Nasir out, Jubair picked in ODI squad

Bangladesh middle-order batsman Nasir Hossain has been dropped while the unacapped pair of legspinner Jubair Hossain and allrounder Sabbir Rahman has been picked for the first two ODIs against Zimbabwe this month. The selectors also handed a comeback to left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny.

Shakib Al Hasan was the other player to return, though he is an automatic choice. Jubair's superb Test form has brought him to the ODI squad while Sabbir was not even among the top 40 scorers in List A cricket last year. In this season's Dhaka Premier League, he has so far scored 36 and a first-ball duck on the day of selection, though he has played five T20s for Bangladesh earlier this year.

From Bangladesh's last ODI series against West Indies in August, Nasir, Shamsur Rahman and Mohammad Mithun have been dropped while injuries to Abdur Razzak (hamstring) and Taskin Ahmed (side strain) kept them out. Sohag Gazi is undergoing remedial work on his bowling action after it was deemed illegal by the ICC in October.

Nasir made only 225 runs at an average of 20.45 without a 50-plus score this year. Shamsur's batting average is 18.12 with one fifty and a total of 145 runs, and for both batsmen their patchy Test form was possibly taken into account.

Mithun, on the other hand, can consider himself unlucky as he hasn't had enough opportunities, having played no matches in West Indies, and have started well in the 2014-15 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League.

The series will be the first in which Mashrafe Mortaza will lead Bangladesh after being re-appointed ODI captain in place of Mushfiqur Rahim. The first of five ODIs is on November 21.

ODI squad: Masrafe Mortaza (capt), Shakib Al Hasan (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Shabbir Rahman, Imrul Kayes, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Jubair Hossain