Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed on Friday that they have called southpaw batsmen, Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes to join them for the remainder of the Asia Cup.
According to media reports, Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said, “Yes we have called both of them (Imrul and Soumya) to join us."
Meanwhile, Sarkar, who lasted played an ODI for Bangladesh in 2017, said, “It is an opportunity for me and I am looking forward to seize it if there is any scope for me to play."
Since Sarkar and Kayes were in Khulna participating in a four-day game in Khulna played between Bangladesh Red and Bangladesh Green, they were asked to return to Dhaka and board a flight to UAE on Saturday.
Apparently, following Tamim Iqbal’s unfortunate injury in the match against Sri Lanka and inability of the other openers Liton Kumar Das and Nazmul Hossain to provide good starts in the ongoing Asia Cup has forced the selectors to pick the seasoned campaigners.
So far in the Asia Cup 2018, both Liton and Nazmul have not crossed the double-digit mark and Bangladesh in their previous match suffered a heavy defeat against a lower-ranked Afghanistan.
Sarkar and Kayes last played an ODI for Bangladesh on October 22, 2017 at East London. Sarkar though has been a part of the T20I team.
