Afif Hossain, a middle order batsman, and Shoriful Islam, a medium bowler, were dropped from Thursday’s third and final one-day international against Ireland, which will take place at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
They will now travel to Dhaka to represent their individual teams in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL). The squad was reduced from 16 to 14 after those two players were dropped, though.
Following their largest-ever triumph in this format—183 runs—in the first ODI, Bangladesh took a 1-0 series lead. The second ODI was called off after Bangladesh scored 349-6, its highest-ever ODI total, with Mushfiqur Rahim scoring 100 runs off just 60 balls.
In doing so, Mushfiqur surpassed Shakib Al Hasan’s 63-ball century against Zimbabwe in 2009 to score the quickest ODI century by a Bangladeshi batter.
Afif was for the first time removed from the best XI during the third ODI against England due to his poor play. Later, he was unable to make place in both of the opening ODIs against Ireland. His absence didn’t mean much because Bangladesh scored their two highest totals ever in those two games.
In the meantime, all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz made a full recovery from the eye injury he suffered during the team’s practice game of football prior to the first ODI. For the third game, he is now eligible for selection.
