Dhaka: Bangladesh on Friday added batsman Mominul Haque to their squad for a three-match one-day international series in South Africa amid doubts about opener Tamim Iqbal.
Mominul is a Test regular but played the last of his 26 one-day games against Sri Lanka at the 2015 World Cup.
“We have concerns about the fitness of Tamim. So we thought we might need a back up,” said Bangladeshi selector Habibul Bashar.
“Mominul is already with the team. So his name popped up in our mind immediately,” he added.
A hamstring injury has forced Tamim out of the second Test beginning Friday at Bloemfontein but team physiotherapist Thihan Chandramohan was hopeful he would recover in time for the ODI series which starts October 15.
Tamim pulled a muscle during a three-day practice match at Benoni last month and did not appear fully fit during Bangladesh’s 333-run defeat in the first Test at Potchefstroom.
Pushed down-order to number five, he made 39 in the first innings. It was the first time in his Test career that he could not open the innings. He scored a duck in the second innings.
All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan also returned to the ODI squad after taking a break from Tests.
The ODI games will start in Kimberly and then go to Paarl and East London on October 18 and 22.
Bangladesh will also play two Twenty20 internationals during the month-long tour.
Bangladesh squad
Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mehedi Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin
