Bangladesh names final squad for World Cup

Bangladesh named a 15-member squad on Tuesday for the upcoming cricket World Cup to be held in the West Indies. The squad, led by experienced batsman Habibul Bashar, has eight specialist batsmen, chief selector Faruque Ahmed told reporters. Khaled Mashud, who featured in Bangladesh's two previous World Cup teams as wicketkeeper-batsman, has been dropped because of his poor form, Ahmed said. Mashud has been replaced by young wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim. Ace spinner Mohammad Rafique is among the three specialist spinners. The squad also contains three specialist pacers, led by in-form bowler Murtaza. The squad was picked up a day after the Bangladesh team returned home from a 3-1 series win against Zimbabwe in its last preparatory contest before the World Cup to be staged in the Caribbean between March 17 and April 28. Bangladesh World Cup squad: Habibul Bashar, Shahriar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Sakib-al-Hasan, Mohammas Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafee-bin-Murtaza, Tapash Baishya, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Russel, Rajin Saleh and Javed Omar.