Bangladesh have been hit with a big blow as the country’s best opener Tamim Iqbal will miss the upcoming ICC ODI World Cup due to fitness issues. On Tuesday (September 26), barely two days before the ICC's deadline, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced its 15-member squad.

Riyad was not considered in the squad after the England series in March but was recalled in the squad for the last New Zealand series where he performed well to be considered for the World Cup squad. So, Afif Hossain or Shamim Hossain has no place in the squad.

Youngster Tanzid Hasan Tamim has taken the place of Tamim Iqbal in the squad and another youngster Tanzim Hasan Sakib has also got the place in the squad. The other faces are as expected. But there is a change in vice-captaincy as Najmul Hossain Shanto will take charge in place of Litton Das. Shakib Al Hasan will lead the team as usual.

After the dissatisfaction of the team management with Tamim's fitness, Tamim was finally not kept in the World Cup team. The coach and captain were reluctant to keep Tamim on the team as he was not fully fit. They also had a meeting with BCB about this. In the end, the World Cup squad was announced without Tamim.

Since the first ODI of the last Afghanistan series in July, which was played at home, Tamim didn’t play in any international games. After that match, the opener said he was done with international cricket, but he later withdrew his decision when the Prime Minister asked him to.

Then he took a break from cricket to heal his long-term injury. He also missed the Asia Cup. After receiving treatment abroad, the opener returned home and recovered from injury to come back in the New Zealand series which just concluded today. However, after playing a good innings of 44 runs, Tamim revealed that he’s not still fully fit and consequently, he is out of the World Cup.

Regarding the squad, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim will lead the middle-order and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan will be the spinners alongside captain Shakib. 

And the most notable part is Bangladesh are going to the World Cup with 5 pacers in Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud and Tanzim.

Bangladesh's World Cup mission will begin with two warm-up matches. The Tigers will have two warm-up matches against Sri Lanka on September 29 and England on October 2 in Guwahati. The Tigers' first World Cup match is against Afghanistan on October 7 in Dharamsala.

Bangladesh Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das (vc), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib.