Naeem the wildcard

NAYEEM HASAN

The national selectors seem to have thought outside the box to play a mind game on Chandika Hathurusingha's Sri Lanka ahead of the tri-nation ODI series final today as the board announced a 14-member squad, for the first Test of the two-match series beginning on January 31, with the surprise inclusion of 17-year-old off-spinner Naeem Hasan yesterday.

The little-known cricketer, who has a solid physique standing at six feet tall, is currently in New Zealand with the Bangladesh Under-19 team to take part in the ICC U-19 World Cup, where they will face England in a play-off for 5th position tomorrow, but is expected to join the Tigers before the first Test.

The off-spinner was instrumental in their World Cup quarter-final fixture against India yesterday as he bagged two wickets for 36 runs from his ten overs. However, the young Tigers eventually succumbed to a comprehensive 131-run defeat.

Son of former football player Mahbubul Alam, Naeem picked up nine wickets from the four first class games he has played so far while he also featured for Chittagong Vikings in the fifth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League. The youngster finally impressed the selectors though when he was called to the national team's training camp in Chittagong ahead of the Test series against Australia at home last year.

"Naeem is a talented bowler and since we wanted an additional off-spinner, as we mostly rely on spinners at home, we picked him. I think Nayeem is a good option and I think he has the ability. He will be coming back from New Zealand since we lost to India today [yesterday]," chief selector Minhajul Abedin told reporters yesterday.

Another notable inclusion is pace bowler Kamrul Islam, who played his last Test in February last year against India, while Mosaddek Hossain also made a return to the team having recovered from his eye infection.

Mosaddek scored 75 runs against Sri Lanka on his Test debut last year but went on to miss the Australia and South Africa series due to his slow recovery, however, his century in the Bangladesh Cricket League last week caught the selectors' attention.

Shakib Al Hasan also returned to the Test team, he was rested for the two Tests against South Africa, but this will be his maiden assignment as Test captain, replacing Mushfiqur Rahim.

According to the chief selector though, changes were made to the squad and subsequently certain individuals were, keeping their poor performances in South Africa in mind, left out.

Soumya Sarkar and pacer Taskin Ahmed, who were both dropped for the tri-series, did not get called up for the first Test while pacers Shafiul Islam and Subashis Roy were also excluded. Sabbir Rahman was out as well as his form has not been up to the mark and he struggles to prolong his starts.

The first of the two-match Test series will take place at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong while the second Test will kick off at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium in Mirpur on February 8.