Bangladesh's Ace Seamer to Miss ODI Series Against Ireland

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Bangladesh's hopes of a successful ODI series against Ireland in May have been dealt a huge blow as their star pacer Taskin Ahmed has been ruled out with a side strain, the same injury which caused him to miss out on the one-off Test against Ireland.  

The latest report from ESPNCricinfo suggests that the visitors have made two changes to their squad, with left-arm pacer Mrittunjoy Chowdhury taking the place of Taskin Ahmed and spinner Taijul Islam being added as a like-for-like replacement for Nasum Ahmed.

Mrittunjoy Chowdhury's selection is well-deserved, given his stellar performances in domestic cricket over the last two seasons. The left-arm pacer has been particularly impressive in List A cricket, taking 12 wickets this year and 17 wickets in last year's competition, in addition to 23 wickets across the last two editions of the Bangladesh Premier League. 

The upcoming three-match ODI series presents a golden opportunity for Bangladesh to fine-tune their skills ahead of the 50 overs World Cup, scheduled to be held in India later this year. Meanwhile, Ireland faces a must-win situation, as they need to win all three matches to keep their automatic selection in the World Cup 2023 alive. 

If Ireland can secure three consecutive wins, they will reach 98 points, putting them level with South Africa, who occupy the final automatic qualification spot. This means that Ireland would need to improve their net run rate and surpass the Proteas, as the two teams will also be level on wins. 

Bangladesh ODI squad: 

Tamim Iqbal (c), Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury