Bangladesh announce 17-member squad for Asia Cup 2022
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have named a 17-member squad for the Asia Cup 2022 that will be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) between August 27 to September 11. Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been named the captain, and he will also be leading the side in the T20 World Cup down under in October-November.
The official announcement of Bangladesh’s Asia Cup squad as well as Shakib’s appointment as captain, was made on August 13, Saturday. The squad includes seasoned performers in the form of Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, and Mustafizur Rahman. Meanwhile, Nurul Hasan Sohan, who missed the Zimbabwe white-ball series due to a fractured finger, will be back in action for the Asia Cup.
The BCB was supposed to announce the Asia Cup squad earlier, but ended up missing the deadline of as the board was in talks with Shakib to sort out his sponsorship issues. The Bangladesh Cricket Board had asked the southpaw to choose between representing the country or keeping his endorsement deal and the latter made the final decision of ending his commercial association with Betwinner News, a betting company.
“Shakib admitted his mistake (regarding Betwinner controversy), but he is important for us,” BCB’s cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus was quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
“He is still our best player. We had already decided on Shakib being the captain earlier, so we are sticking to it. He thought it was an online news website. He felt he was misguided. He has said he has terminated the (Betwinner) contract. We are hopeful he will not repeat it again. We have asked him not to commit such a mistake again. We have ended the whole thing,” he added.
As far as their Asia Cup performance is concerned, Bangladesh have played three finals- 2012, 2016, and 2018, but have lost all of them. They would be hoping to go all the way this time around in familiar UAE conditions where some of their seasoned cricketers have played international and franchise cricket.
Bangladesh’s squad for the Asia Cup 2022:
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Taskin Ahmed
