Soumya axed in T20 overhaul

DHAKA: Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Monday axed top-order batsman Soumya Sarkar and called up three uncapped players in a further shuffle of their squad for the ongoing tri-nation Twenty20 international at home.

Batsmen M Naim, Aminul Islam, Nazmul Hossain will join the squad for the third and fourth match of the tournament after Bangladesh’s senior players failed to deliver in the first two matches. Bangladesh were 60-6 in the opening match against Zimbabwe before somehow managing a three-wicket win while failed to recover in Sunday’s second match against Afghanistan after being reduced to 32-4 and lost by 25 runs. Soumya bore brunt criticism for Bangladesh’s woeful batting performance at top, having scored just four runs in two matches.

Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Liton Das, Afif Hossain, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin, M Naim, Aminul Islam and Nazmul Hossain.