Rabbi called up to preliminary squad for NZ tour

Fast bowler Kamrul Islam Rabbi has been named as a replacement for Shafiul Islam in Bangladesh's 22-man preliminary squad that will train in Sydney from December 11 in preparation for the tour to New Zealand.

Shafiul was ruled out after he injured his left hamstring while fielding for Khulna Titans in Qualifier 1 of the BPL against Dhaka Dynamites on December 6, just three days before Bangladesh were scheduled to leave Dhaka. Shafiul took 18 wickets in 13 matches during the tournament, and showed rare consistency in form and fitness. But now, he needs at least three weeks to recover from the Grade 2 strain.

Shafiul's injury is the latest blow to Bangladesh, who already lost Mohammad Shahid to a knee injury. However, chief selector Minhajul Abedin said they were still hoping Shafiul would recover in time for the Test series which begins on January 12. "Shafiul is ruled out of the limited-overs matches, but if he recovers early, he will be considered for the Tests," he said.

Rabbi, who made his Test debut against England in October, was picked ahead of pacemen Al-Amin Hossain and Alauddin Babu who are among the standbys. Rabbi was also among the standbys and was not included in the 22-man squad after which he took seven wickets in eight BPL games for Barisal Bulls.

Minhajul said that Al-Amin's disciplinary record also played a part in him not being considered. "We have heard negative things about him from other places, so we didn't bring him in our discussion," he said.