15-man squad selected for Champs Trophy

The Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB's) selection panel yesterday submitted a 15-member squad to the board for the Champions Trophy and the tri-nation series in Ireland. While the panel did not reveal the squad, there are not likely to be any new faces in the squad.

“The deadline to send the squad for the Champions Trophy is April 25. That's why we decided to make the team for both the tri-nation series in Ireland and the Champions Trophy. The team has done well and so there won't be any surprise in the team,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin told The Daily Star yesterday.

There is a chance that the team may be officially announced today. However, that depends on the approval of BCB president Nazmul Hassan.

Initially, there was talk about taking more than 15 players for the two tours in order to provide back-up. That has been the policy in the last few away tours of Bangladesh. However, this time the selectors chose 15 because they want the rest of the players to continue playing in the Dhaka Premier League, the country's top 50-over competition.

“Instead of just tagging along with the team, they will benefit a lot more by playing in the league. That's why we decided to choose just 15 players,” said Minhajul.

In addition to submitting the team, the cricket operations committee also had a discussion regarding the new contracts of the national players. The contractual grades of the players were discussed yesterday and will be finalized soon.