T20 World Cup: Bangladesh make late changes to squad

Dhaka: Bangladesh included batsman Soumya Sarkar and left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam in a last-minute change to their squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia, starting in Geelong, Australia on Sunday. The Bangladesh Cricket Board said that it had submitted the final squad to the World Cup authorities ahead of the October 14 cut-off date for participating teams to change players. Left-handed batsman Soumya and pacer Shoriful were originally on the standby list for the tournament. They replaced batsman Sabbir Rahman and all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin, who had been named earlier in the 15-man team, announced on 14 September. Sabbir and Saifuddin were also part of the Bangladesh squad that participated in the just-concluded tri-nation tournament in New Zealand. Bangladesh failed to win any of their four matches in the tri-nation tournament, which also included Pakistan, the eventual winners. Sabbir played one match in the tournament to score just 14 runs while all-rounder Saifuddin was generous with the ball conceding 90 runs for his two wickets in two matches at an economy rate of 11.48. Sabbir and Saifuddin will return home from New Zealand, said the BCB, adding that the Bangladesh World Cup squad will head for Brisbane, Australia on Saturday. They will play two warm-up games against Afghanistan and South Africa before starting their campaign in Hobart on October 24. Bangladesh will play directly in the second round where they are drawn in Group 2 alongside India, Pakistan, South Africa and two qualifiers. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.