Meanwhile, Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain and Mohammad Naim were dropped, even as Soumya Sarkar and Nurul Hasan, and the uncapped trio of Zakir Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Khaled Ahmed, earned call-ups.
“The decision to rest players was taken in consideration of the World Cup in India, which will be a long tournament, [and] where ensuring the mental and physical fitness of the cricketers will be very important,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin said. “The series against New Zealand provides us an opportunity to take a look at some other players as well ahead of this major event.
“The squad is a blend of experience and youth, and only Zakir, Khaled and Rishad have not featured in ODIs yet. Zakir was very close to playing against Ireland in March before he suffered an unfortunate injury. Khaled has done well in his List A career, and Rishad offers a different dimension to our bowling attack.”
Also, Mahmudullah returns after last playing in the ODI series against England in March. He was initially rested for the Ireland series at home in March-April, before being ignored for the away series against the same opposition in Chelmsford in May, as well as being left out for the ODIs against Afghanistan, and the Asia Cup.
Bangladesh are also without Ebadot Hossain, who is out of World Cup reckoning too after undergoing a knee surgery earlier this month. Najmul Hossain Shanto too will miss the New Zealand series through a hamstring injury he picked up after two games in the Asia Cup.
Bangladesh squad: Litton Das (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Anamul Haque, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Zakir Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Syed Khaled Ahmed
