Four new faces have been called to the Bangladesh ODI squad that will face Afghanistan in the upcoming three-match series at home. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the team on Monday evening.  Among the new faces, Ebadot Hossain, Yasir Ali and Mahmudul Hasan Joy have played in Tests, but they are yet to get an ODI cap while Nasum Ahmed played T20Is before but he did not play any ODI.  Ebadot, the right-arm pacer, has played 11 List-A matches and bagged 10 wickets while left-arm spinner Nasum played 41 List-A matches to bag 49 wickets.  Also read: ICC Men's Best Cricketer Award January 2022: Ebadot Named in Final Three Right-handed batter Yasir played 77 List-A matches and scored 1878 runs with two centuries and 11 fifties while Mahmudul, another right-handed batter, played 13 List-A matches to score 510 with one hundred and four fifties.  Mohammad Naim, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Mithun, Nurul Hasan, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin and Rubel Hossain were overlooked from the last squad.  The ODIs of the Afghanistan series will take place on 23, 25 and 28 February in Chattogram. All the matches will begin at 11am.  After the ODI series, the teams will compete in a two-match T20I series in Dhaka on March 3 and 5.  Also read: Ashraful hits a fifty, Nasum, Mahedi take five each as BCL kicks off Bangladesh squad for Afghanistan series: Tamim Iqbal (Captain), Liton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Mahmudul Hasan Joy

Bangladesh’s 21-year-old top-order batter Mahmudul Hasan Joy, after his maiden Test fifty against New Zealand, said that he focused on the deliveries instead of worrying about the bowlers. At the end of day three, Bangladesh are leading by 73 runs with four wickets in hand. In reply to New Zealand’s first innings total of 328, Bangladesh scored 401 for six at stumps. It was only the second Test of Mahmudul (first in New Zealand) where he smashed 78 off 228 balls. Along the way he became the first Bangladeshi opener to face 200 or more deliveries in New Zealand. Also read: Bangladesh hold firm after imperious batting display Before this match, Mahmudul got his Test cap against Pakistan when he got a torrid initiation to Tests-- a duck and six in his first two innings. “They have the best pace-bowling unit in the world,” he said about the pace-bowling attack of the reigning Test champions. “I just wanted to play my regular game. I did not think much over that. My focus was to play the delivers not the names of their bowlers.” Along with Mahmudul, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque and Liton Das have also hit a fifty. Mominul and Liton had passed the 80-run mark too but fell short of a few runs from their first Test century in New Zealand. “My plan was to face as many balls as possible, and the runs will come along the way. All of my partners in the middle have said this. It was the reason behind my calmness on the wicket. I must admit that the preparation ahead of the series has helped me a lot,” he added. Mahmudul and Shadman Islam put up a 43-run opening stand— highest in recent times. In the absence of the veteran batter Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s top-order has been struggling for a long time. Also read: Bangladesh takes lead after Mominul, Liton heroics “Shadman and I wanted to make the ball old,” Mahmudul said while talking about playing the new ball. “If I would have thought more, there was a big chance of losing the wicket. So we kept thinking ball by ball, and it eventually resulted in a good way.”

Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Mahmudul Hasan Joy hit a fifty each in the ongoing first Test against New Zealand at Mount Maunganui.  At the end of day two, Bangladesh were batting at 175 for two with Joy and captain Mominul Haque remained  unbeaten for 70 and eight respectively. Joy, who got his Test captain in the second Test against Pakistan at home, scored only six in his debut. But coming into bat for the third time in Tests, he notched up his maiden fifty.  Along the way of scoring 70, Joy played 211 balls— the highest by any Bangladeshi openers in New Zealand.  Read Bangladesh Cricket in 2021: Performance Analysis by Series Joy and Shadman Islam added 43 in the opening stand. Shadman fell for 22 off 55 balls, but Joy remained firm at the other end of the wicket. In the second wicket stand, Joy and number three Shanto added 104 runs on the board.  The pair of Joy and Shanto was going well until Neil Wagner bagged his second wicket and removed Shanto. It was an outswinger delivery from Wagner after a barrage of short balls. Shanto’s foot movement was disappointing. He only sent a catch to Will Young.  Joy and Mominul played the last nine overs of the day without any loss.  Joy got a life at 20, but later, he took the advantage and did not give any chance to the hosts’ bowlers.  Earlier, Bangladesh scalped the last five wickets of the hosts inside 70 runs on top of their overnight total of 258 for five. The hosts were ended up at 328 in their first innings of this Test after being sent to bat first losing the toss.  Read Traditional folk sports of rural Bangladesh: A look back Devon Conway was the highest runs getter for the hosts with his well-composed 122 while Henry Nicholls scored 75 and opener Will Young put 52 on the board.  Mehidy Hasan Miraz led the bowlers on the second day morning. The right-arm spinner bagged three wickets in the first session of the day, while Mominul and Shoriful scalped one each.  Mehidy and Shorfiul ended up taking three wickets each. It was the best bowling for Shorfiul in Tests. He previously played one Test against Sri Lanka.  Restricting the hosts under 350 runs in the first innings, came as a good chance for Bangladesh to end this Test on high.  But as the first step, the Tigers now need to score 153 runs more to pass the first innings total of New Zealand.    

Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Shamim Hossain hit a 50 each to guide the Bangladesh Emerging team to a four-wicket ODI win over Ireland Wolves on Sunday.