Bangladesh is going to play a three-match ODI series against Ireland in England next month. The series will start on May 9 at Chelmsford, and all three matches will take place at the same venue. However, the tour was scheduled for 2020, but it was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, it is a part of the Super League, and winning the series by 3-0 may help Ireland play the ODI World Cup 2023 directly. While Ireland is yet to announce the team, Bangladesh has already announced the squad for the tour. Let’s analyze the squad and see the potentiality of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh ODI Squad Against Ireland 

Tamim Iqbal, Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, and Mohammad Mrittunjoy Chowdhury.

Bangladesh Squad Analysis for IRE vs BAN ODI Series 2023

BCB has announced the Bangladesh squad for the ODI series against Ireland to be held in England next month. Although Bangladesh had a 14-member squad in the home series against Ireland last month, BCB announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming tour.

Left-handed pacer Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, who is waiting for his debut, has been called to the team. Pacer Taskin Ahmed is not on the team. Taskin was ruled out during the only Test against Ireland due to injury this month. At that time, he was supposed to be out of the field for about four weeks.

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Apart from Taskin, left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed was also left out. They were included in the last Ireland series team. Besides Mrittunjoy, Shoriful Islam and Taijul Islam have come to the team. While Shoriful and Mrittunjoy were taken in place of Taskin, Taijul Islam returned to Nasum Ahmed’s place.

Mrittunjoy played for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi club last season in Dhaka Premier League. So far, in 7 matches, he took 9 wickets at 27.88 with the best bowling performance of 3 wickets for 31 runs. Although he was in the under-19 World Cup winning team in 2020, he had to return home early due to injury. Further, Mrittunjoy’s previous BPL performance was great, but the 21-year-old could not shine well in the last season.

On the other hand, Shoriful played the last ODI in August 2022. He also returned to Tests after the T20 team with the series against Ireland. The left-handed pacer who played 14 matches in this edition returned to ODIs as well.

The presence of Mustafizur Rahman, along with Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das, in the Ireland series is also noteworthy. As Shakib was in the IPL, there was a discussion about whether he will play in this series or not. However, Shakib has removed himself from this IPL season. Litton is staying for Kolkata Knight Riders till this series. Mustafiz, who is in the IPL, will also have to leave Delhi Capitals.

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Yasir Ali, who scored 17 and 7 runs in 2 matches against the Irish in the home series, has retained his place in the team. Rony Talukdar, who is waiting for his debut, has also been retained. But he should be thought of mainly as a backup opener.

As England’s pitch will be challenging, team selector Minhajul Abedin and team management have considered different factors before the announcement. And they also wanted to test some players before the Asia Cup, which will help selectors to create the team for the World Cup.

Bangladesh Players to Watch 

Since Bangladesh just played with Ireland, the most recent performers will surely get attention in the upcoming tour.

Mushfiqur Rahim

Mushfiqur’s overall performance against the last Ireland series was incredible. To speak about the ODI performance, he scored 144 runs in two innings with a record-breaking century. In the second ODI match, Mushfiqur broke Shakib’s 14-year record by scoring a century off only 60 balls. He secured his ninth century on the last ball of the innings, collecting a total of 100 runs with 14 fours and 2 sixes. So, fans will surely be looking forward to his performance.

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Towhid Hridoy

Towhid scored 141 runs in two innings. During his ODI debut, Towhid Hridoy set a new record for the highest run scored by a Bangladeshi player. Despite having a good chance to become the first player to achieve a century in fifth down, Hridoy fell short of the world record by just 8 runs. However, this broke the record previously held by Nasir Hossain, who had scored 63 runs during his debut match for Bangladesh, and Hridoy accomplished this feat after 12 years.

Ebadot Hossain

Ebadot was one of the top wicket-takers in the last series. He took 6 wickets in total. In the first ODI match, Ebadot Hossain displayed an impressive bowling performance. In his 6.5 overs, he took 4 wickets while giving 42 runs with no maiden overs. His economy rate of 6.14 was quite impressive, considering the fact that he was constantly putting pressure on the Irish batsmen with his line and length. So, it is evident that he understood the Irish batsmen’s playing style, and we may see some incredible performances from Ebadot again.

Final Words

Bangladesh is going to the UK to play Ireland with a full-strength team. Overall, there are five pacers in the 15-member team. Hence, Bangladesh will try to keep pressure on the Irish using the pacers. So, the IRE vs BAN ODI series 2023 will be a thrilling encounter between the two teams. Although Bangladesh emerged as a winner on the home ground, the Tigers may need to change their tactic in England. We may see some standout individual performances from Bangladeshi players.

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