Mehedi Hasan's inclusion for Lanka ODIs was my decision: BCB president

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan has revealed that it was his decision to choose Mehedi Hasan for the ongoing four-match series against Sri Lanka.

Nineteen-year-old off spinner Mehedi was not a part of the original squad that was announced the previous week, but he was later called in Bangladesh's ODI squad for the first time in his career.

Reflecting on Mehedi's inclusion, Hassan informed that he first contacted chief selector Minhajul Abedin asking him to pick Mehedi in the ODI squad, before calling the player himself to ask him to make plans to return to Sri Lanka.

Hassan also insisted that the decision to include Mehedi in the playing XI was made only after the team arrived at the Dambulla ground for the opening match, which the visiting side went on to win by 90 runs.

"I called up [Minhajul Abedin] Nannu to send over [Mehedi Hasan] Miraz. I found out he is in Khulna, and told him that he must get back to Sri Lanka. Basically we wanted to keep him as an option because they have a number of quality left-hand batsmen. Miraz had been bowling well in the Tests and this is a very important series for us. But when I sat with the team that morning [of the ODI], it still wasn't decided if Miraz or Sunzamul [Islam] would be playing. It was finalised after coming to the ground," ESPNcricinfo quoted Hassan as saying.

Mehedi, who opened the bowling in Lanka's chase of 325 in the first ODI, finished with the figures of 2 for 43 in his quota of 10 overs. Bangladesh will now take on Lanka at the same venue on March 28.

Earlier, the BCB chief had revealed that he was behid the decision to drop Mahmudullah for the Colombo Test. Hassan has been vocal about selection decisions since the Afghanistan ODI series last September and during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) too.