Young Shoriful Islam rewarded, named among five players offered all-format contracts by BCB

Left-arm seamer Shoriful Islam was rewarded for his consistency in all formats this season for the national team Bangladesh as he was anded an all-format contract by the Bangladesh Cricket Board for the 2021-22 season. This is the first time ever that Shoriful has been named in the retainer’s list and it couldn’t have been any better getting to the top of the tree straightway.

A total of a 24-members have been centrally contracted by the BCB this time around with only five of them getting an all formats contract. The other four in the list include Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed and Liton Das.

Only 20 years old, Shoriful has played just a solitary Test, four ODIs and 10 T20Is having made his international debut in a T20I against New Zealand in March this year.

The BCB introduced a format-wise contract system this year replacing its red and white ball contract system which was in place in 2019 and 2020.

While Mohammad Mithun, Nayeem Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Rubel Hossain and Aminul Islam failed to retain their contracts, all-rounder Mahedi Hasan, wicket-keeper batter Nurul Hasan Sohan, spinner Nasum Ahmed and lower-order hitter and part-time spinner Shamim Hossain were named in the central contracts list for the first time. All of them were named in the only T20 lists.

Total contracted players: 24

All format players (five): Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam

Tests and ODIs (three): Tamim Iqbal, Mehidy Hasan and Taijul Islam

ODIs and T20Is (four): Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, Mohammad Saifuddin and Afif Hossain

Only Tests (six):Mominul Haque, Abu Jayed, Najmul Hossain, Shadman Islam, Saif Hassan and Ebadot Hossain

Only T20Is (six): Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Naim, Mahedi Hasan, Nurul Hasan, Nasum Ahmed and Shamim Hossain

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It's a personal loss for me: Proteas skipper on assistant coach Enoch Nkwe’s resignation

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IPL 2021: Shreyas Iyer joins Delhi Capitals camp in UAE

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We must move forward, win the World Cup and retain Ashes: Labuschagne on Langer issue

Australian middle-order batter Marnus Labuschagne has come out in support of coach Justin Langer and said that the focus of both the media and the team now must shift to the World Cup and on retaining the Ashes. Saying that it’s never nice when things ‘come out as they have’, Labuschagne focussed on what better could be done from here on. “We want to make sure that we come together as a team and for those things that have come out, it’s been spoken about that it’s come to a head now and there’s been conversations had, and we can all move forward and have our focus on winning this World Cup and retaining the Ashes,” Labuschagne was quoted as saying to Fox Cricket. The 27-year-old, who had a great time in England playing for Glamorgan, said that he had had a chat with the coach and reckoned that it was great for players who toured West Indies and Bangladesh to get out of the quarantine and spend some time with their families ahead of a gruelling season. “I’ve spoken to the coach. I’ve been in contact with him in the last couple of weeks and just having a chat with him. It’s really nice that those players and coaching support staff are out of quarantine and can spend a bit of time with their families before what is going to be a massive five months,” said the man who has an average of 60 in Test cricket and almost 40 in ODIs, but is yet to play a T20I. Australia lost the T20I series both in West Indies and Bangladesh 4-1.

BAN vs NZ | Finn Allen returns two negative Covid-19 tests, set to join Blackcaps squad

New Zealand batsman Finn Allen who had tested positive for Covid-19 after reaching Dhaka has now returned two negative tests and will now join back the team bubble, New Zealand Cricket said on Thursday. Allen’s availability for selection is still not confirmed. "It's great for us. He has been a big part of our squad," New Zealand head coach Glenn Poknall said. "Hopefully, he will come as soon as possible but he will have to undergo a couple of (fitness) tests. He will definitely come into consideration, it's just a matter of when. He is physically fit but we need to assess on what game he comes into the team,'' he said. Meanwhile, Matt Henry who had been called in as the replacement for Allen is in the final day of the three-day hotel isolation and will join the team on Friday pending negative test for Covid-19. The Blackcaps suffered a thumping defeat in the first T20I of the five-match series against Bangladesh after the visitors were bowled out for 60. The hosts then chased down the target by 7 wickets with five overshot spare. The two sides will now face each other in the second T20I scheduled to take place on Friday at the same venue.