The 15th edition of the Asia Cup is just a few days away and the six teams have not yet announced their squads for the continental tournament. As reported, teams have been given a deadline (of August 8) to come up with their final squad. However, it seems Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has asked for an extension citing the injury concerns in the Bangladesh camp and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) has accepted the request.
As per a report, the BCB sought an extension from ACC as the board is still awaiting medical reports of several injured players and the regional board accepted the request. The ACC has given BCB a three days extension and they are expected to submit the final squad by August 11.
"The long injury list have put us on the backfoot and so we requested the ACC to give some more time to finalize our squad and they have accepted it," BCB cricket operation chairman Jalal Yunus told Cricbuzz on Saturday. "We are waiting for the medical report and later we will finalize the squad. We will have to submit the squad before August 11," Jalal added.
Notably, almost half-a-dozen Bangladesh players are injured and are undergoing rehabilitation. Recently, star batter Litton Das was ruled out of action due to a hamstring injury. Nurul Hasan was also ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour due to a finger injury. While Hasan is in Singapore to get his condition assessed and is likely to make the cut at the last minute, Das is doubtful considering he has been ruled out for four weeks.
The other players in the injury list are Mustafizur Rahman (ankle), Mushfiqur Rahim (thumb) and Shoriful Islam (knee). Apart from them, Yasir Ali and Mohammad Saifuddin, who were ruled out from the tour of Zimbabwe, will also have to pass the fitness test for selection.
Apart from injury concerns, BCB also have the headache to name the new captain of the team. Shakib al Hasan was the front runner but he needs to clear his position to the board as far as his latest sponsorship deal with Betwinner News. Mahmuduallah, Litton Das, and Nurul Hasan are the three other contenders for the leadership role.
