Captain, coach wanted five pacers in World T20 squad: BCB selector

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief selector Faruque Ahmed has said that captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and coach Chandika Hathurusingha wanted five pacers in the national squad for the upcoming World Twenty20 tournament.

The BCB on Wednesday named the final 15-man squad for the T20 showcase event that starts in India next month. The Tigers had four pacers in the bouncy tracks of Australia and New Zealand in last year's World Cup. This time, the selectors opted for one more despite the fact that India has traditionally produced spin bowling wickets, reports bdnews24.com.

Ahmed announced the squad at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. He said the decision was mainly taken because of the captain and the coach.

"The captain always plays a role. We are told what they are thinking about a match. I think the coach has some plans with these seamers, so we went for five pacers."

Bangladesh will play the first round of the tournament at Dharmasala in Himachal Pradesh. The tracks there assist fast bowlers. Faruque said this played a big role in finalising the squad.

"The wicket was on our mind too. We may play in seaming conditions at first. So we will need seamers? we have to qualify (for the Super 10)," he said.

Where teams like New Zealand and West Indies have drafted three specialist spinners, Bangladesh have just one -- Arafat Sunny. But Bangladesh will be equipped with the spin options of all[-rounders Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, and Sabbir Rahman.

"It can't be said we have fewer spin bowlers. We have two left-arm spinners in Shakib and Sunny. Nasir can't be called an irregular bowler. He has been filling the bowling quota for the last few months.

"Apart from that, Mahmudullah Riyad is there while (Sabbir Rahman) Rumman, too, has been bowling in international games nowadays," Ahmed said.

Bangladesh have been pitted against Netherlands, Ireland, and Oman in Group A in the first round of the tournament. They will begin their campaign against Netherlands on March 9.