Soumya, Sabbir in contention for Asia Cup?

Batters Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman may just be in contention for the upcoming Asia Cup in Dubai, slated to be played in UAE from August 27 till September 11.

Bangladesh have a few injury concerns ahead of the tournament with batter Yasir Ali, wicket-keeper batsman Nurul Hasan Sohan and pacer Mustafizur Rahman all currently injured.

The BCB already petitioned for three extra days to submit their squad for the Asia Cup squad and the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) granted them permission to submit the squad on August 11 instead of the cut-off date on August 8.

Soumya and Sabbir were both included in Bangladesh A's tour of West Indies to play in three one-day matches on August 16th, 18th and 20th respectively.

Asked if Soumya and Sabbir are in contention due to the injury crisis, cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus said that their names maybe in the list as 'backup' options.

"This [Soumya and Sabbir's inclusion] is a matter for the selectors. They are thinking about various kinds of things. Since there is an injury issue, we need support players and the ones you mention, maybe their names are also there. The selectors are thinking of these things since we want backup players. The selectors have kept their name," Jalal told the media today.

When chief selector Minhajul Abedin was asked to comment on the matter. "It's not really certain and they have to perform with the A team in Windies at the moment," he told The Daily Star today.

Soumya last played for the Tigers in the T20 World Cup's Super 12 match at UAE. Sabbir last played during the home tri-nation series involving Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in September 2019.

Meanwhile, the BCB gave an update on Nurul Hasan's finger injury which saw him ruled out of the Zimbabwe series after the first two T20Is.

He underwent a surgery at the Raffles Hospital in Singapore earlier today, the BCB said in a press release.

BCB Chief Sports Physician Dr Debashis Chowdhury, who has accompanied Sohan to Singapore, said: "A closed reduction and pinning procedure was performed on Sohan's left index finger by hand surgeon Dr Anthony Foo at the Raffles Hospital this afternoon. Recovery is estimated at three to four weeks."

Nurul is expected back in the country on Tuesday.