Bangladesh’s Probable XI for Champions Trophy 2017

Ever since their World Cup 2015 campaign in Australia, where they knocked out England to enter the quarter finals, Bangladesh have been proving they belong with the big boys with consistent performances. They’ve defeated India, Pakistan and South Africa in ODI series at home and recently drew an away series against Sri Lanka. They walk in to the Champions Trophy tournament with a settled playing XI and a good bench to shuffle around according to playing conditions. The batting line up has not been tinkered with a lot during this period of ODI success and the first five batsmen walk into the side.

Openers – Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar

Tamim Iqbal has been Bangladesh’s best batsman over the past 12 months aggregating over 700 runs with a healthy average of 52.64. Soumya Sarkar has been given the role of playing aggressively at the top making use of the powerplay, which is evident by his style of play and healthy strike rate of 92.09 from his last ten innings.

Middle Order- Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan

Sabbir Rahman is a young and upcoming batsman for Bangladesh having made his debut in 2014 on the back of impressive domestic performances and has been slotted at number three for the national team since the past year as he possesses the ability of playing big shots as well as compiling an innings. Although he hasn’t been consistent in his early career he is someone Bangladesh are looking to nurture for the future and is bound to keep his place at the important number three in the side.

Wicketkeeper and Captain of the side, Mushfiqur Rahim has preferred to come in at number four to provide stability to the middle order. He tends to swap batting positions with the current number one ODI allrounder, Shakib Al Hasan according to the situation of the match. If the team is looking for quick runs at the back end of the innings Shakib may come in before Rahim.

Finishers – Mohammad Mahmudullah and Mosaddek Hossain Saikat

Mahmudullah has been in and out of the test side due to bad form but has been a mainstay in the ODI team ever since his impressive run in the 2015 World Cup where he scored two important centuries for the team. He has been handed over the responsibility of finishing off matches for the team and has done a decent job scoring 389 runs at an average of 38.90 over the past 12 months. 21-year old Mosaddek Hossain Saikat is another young cricketer who received a national call up last year on the back of impressive all-round performances in the Bangladesh Premier League. He can bowl a few overs of off spin and the team can have the luxury of playing a batting all-rounder at 7 with Shakib expected to bowl his full quota of 10 overs.

Bowlers – Taskin Ahmed/ Mehdi Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain

Although Mehdi Hasan had dream debut in Test cricket he hasn’t been as effective in ODI cricket especially away from home and his selection will purely depend on playing conditions. With spin not being as effective in English conditions, the team would probably like to pick a good death bowler in Taskin Ahmed. Mashrafe Mortaza on virtue of experience while Mustafizur on talent and performance walk into the side. Rubel Hossain has not been a consistent member in the ODI team but assistance for swing bowling in England and good performances by him in the recently concluded tri-series against Ireland and New Zealand in Ireland make him a good asset to have in the bowling department.

Bangladesh kick start their campaign on the opening day of the tournament itself against hosts England on June 1 at Kennington Oval in London.