T20 World Cup: Mohammad Saifuddin to miss remaining matches; Here's who will replace him

Ahead of their big game against England, the Bangladesh cricket team have faced a major blow as bowler Mohammad Saifuddin has been ruled out for the remainder of the T20 World Cup. The team has confirmed that the medium-pace-bowling allrounder will not take part in any game due to a back injury he sustained. Veteran pacer Robel Hossain will replace Saifuddin in the squad.

The 24-year-old allrounder played all of Bangladesh's games so far and picked up a few wickets. Saifuddin also played an unbeaten inning of 19 in six balls against Papua New Guinea in the first round. The allrounder had a bad game against Sri Lanka on Monday, as he conceded 38 runs in three overs while picking up only one wicket. Saifuddin is now being replaced by pacer Robel Hossain.

Robel Hossain replaces injured Saifuddin

Following Saifuddin’s injury, experienced pacer Robel Hossain has been moved into the main squad from the reserves' list. The pacer will replace Saifuddin for the rest of the tournament starting from Bangladesh's next match against England on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi. Having played 159 international matches including 28 T20Is, Robel is bound to bring his experience to the team’s strengths. In his 28 match T20Is career, Robel has picked up 28 wickets with an economy rate of 9.45.

Bangladesh, which has had a poor start in Group 1, lost by five wickets to Sri Lanka after a decent batting performance. The team will now face England on Wednesday and it is a key game for the Bangladeshi side to remain in the competition. England has a formidable batting line-up, but, their top-order looked a bit shaky in their last match against West Indies even though they were chasing a paltry 56-run target. Bangladesh's pace battery spearheaded by Mustafizur Rahman and now powered by Robel will look to take the early advantage by dismissing the top order quickly. After its clash with England, Bangladesh has matches lined up against Australia, South Africa and West Indies.

Bangladesh T20 World Cup squad

Bangladesh: Mahmudullah (capt), Liton Das, Mohammed Naim, Mahedi Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nurul Hasan, Afif Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam and Robel Hossain.

(Image: AP)