Following a hiatus of nearly four years, Mosaddek Hossain has rejoined Bangladesh’s ODI squad to compete against Australia in the first two matches of a three-match series against Australia. The announcement was made on June 3 by the BCB selectors, who have recognized Mosaddek’s impressive performances in the Dhaka Premier League.
Mosaddek last played in an ODI almost 1400 days ago, and after an impressive run in List A in domestic competitions for Abahani Limited, he has regained his position in the team. He has scored 310 runs with 1 century and 2 half-centuries at an average of 77.50 and with a strike rate of 129.17. He also took 12 wickets over 7 innings while bowling.
According to Chief Selector Habibul Bashar, Mosaddek was selected as a reliable all-rounder batting at number six for the team.
According to Bashar, “We are thinking about Mosaddek to fill the role previously held by Afif Hossain’s batting at a No. 6 position in the batting order of our team. He is in very good batting shape, and his type of play will add to our performance there.”
Bashar added that Mosaddek’s experience and his ability to bowl also contributed to his recall to the team and that including him on the roster will improve the team’s overall balance.
“Typically, we field five specialist batsmen and can sometimes lack in the way of having enough bowling options available at the No. 6 position. Mosaddek can bat in the No. 6 position and also bowl quite well,” said Bashar.
The Bangladesh team will add back wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan Sohan to their ODI squad after Sohan missed Bangladesh’s previous series versus New Zealand in April. The selectors replaced Mahidul Islam Ankon with Sohan, while they also dropped batter Afif Hossain.
In regard to this latter decision, Bashar mentioned that Sohan is a good fit in the role of the lower middle-order batter the Bangladesh team is looking to fill.
According to Bashar, “While Ankon primarily bats at the top of the order in domestic cricket, Sohan generally bats at six or seven. We want a wicketkeeper-batsman capable of succeeding as a wicketkeeper-batsman, and therefore we believe Sohan will better suit what we are looking for.”
The one-day international series against Australia will start on 9th June, the second and third games will be played on 11th and 14th June respectively, and all of them will be held at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka under Captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s command.
