Rubel, Kayes back for West Indies ODI series

Imrul Kayes and Rubel Hossain have returned to the Bangladesh ODI squad for the three-match series against West Indies next month. Shakib Al Hasan's six-month suspension means he isn't part of the 15-man squad. Seam-bowling allrounder Ziaur Rahman has also missed out.

Shakib and Zia were part of Bangladesh's last ODI assignment, the three-match series against India which they lost 2-0 in June. Ziaur made just two runs in two innings and didn't pick up a wicket in the series.

The Faruque Ahmed-led selection committee decided to revert to Rubel, who was surprisingly dropped for the India series. The pace bowler is the team's second-highest wicket-taker this year, though he did run out of steam during the World T20.

Imrul on the other hand has made the best of the two opportunities he got this year, scoring a hundred in his comeback Test against Sri Lanka and a fifty against Pakistan in his only ODI this year. He was also Bangladesh A's highest scorer during their tour of the West Indies last month.

As Faruque suggested on Wednesday, Bangladesh have selected a back-up opener in case Tamim Iqbal's form doesn't improve. Apart from Tamim, Bangladesh have three other openrrs in their squad in Anamul Haque, Shamsur Rahman and Imrul.

Meanwhile, the squad ended training on Thursday for their Eid break and will rejoin on August 2. According to coach Chandika Hathurusingha, they will focus on planning and technique after spending the last few weeks on skill development.

"The camp has been all about developing skill level which we did in the last few weeks," Hathurusingha said. "We were focusing on basic skills, especially for the batters to improve and understand. They worked in their own game, finding out what they do best, watching videos and identifying areas to improve.

"Bowlers are also working on individual skills - stock ball, variations and stuff like that. We haven't gone into the analysing part, so when we come back after Eid, we will probably work on specific game planning."

Much of the focus on Thursday however remained on Shakib. In a final reply to the unending query about how the team is going to cope without the allrounder, Hathurusingha said: "Any team will miss player of that caliber. What can we do? That is the reality we have to face. So we are looking forward."