All-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz has been called up to the Bangladesh national team for the forthcoming T20I series against Pakistan after Soumya Sarkar was ruled out due to a back injury, confirmed the Bangladesh Cricket Board on Thursday.听
According to a press release issued by the BCB, Soumya, who didn鈥檛 play any match in the recently concluded series against the UAE, has been experiencing a right-sided lower back pain over the past week.听
National team physio Bayjedul Islam Khan said, 鈥楩ollowing medical evaluation, it has been determined that the injury requires an extended rehabilitation period of approximately 10 to 12 days. This effectively means that he will not be available for next week鈥檚 three-match series in Pakistan.鈥�
Meanwhile, Mehidy, who has represented Bangladesh in 29 T20 Internationals, is currently in Pakistan playing for the Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League. He will join the national squad in Lahore upon completion of his PSL commitments.
Earlier, the 27-year-old all-rounder wasn鈥檛 considered for the T20s, as the selectors felt that he had not been their number one choice.听
But now the chief selector, Gazi Ashraf Hossain, said that they saw an opportunity to include Mehidy in place of a top-order batter in the squad.
鈥極ur two openers are currently in good form. Besides that, if something unexpected happens, Shanto is there as a backup [opener],鈥� Ashraf said.听
鈥楶akistan have five left-handed batters in their squad. Considering that, we have added an off-spinner. Furthermore, our middle order has been inconsistent; that鈥檚 why we thought that Miraz could be a good alternative,鈥� Ashraf further explained.听
The series, which is scheduled to begin on May 28, was supposed to be five matches but was reduced to three after the cross-border tensions between Pakistan and India.听
Fast bowler Nahid Rana, fielding coach James Pamment and trainer Nathan Kiely have already pulled out of the series.
According to the chairman of BCB鈥檚 cricket operations, Najmul Abedeen Fahim, Mustafizur Rahman will join the national team after his IPL stint is over.听
Meanwhile, leg-spinner Rishad Hossain rejoined his PSL franchise, Lahore, on Thursday.
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