BCB announced a 14-member squad for the Test, starting from April 4 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, including both Shakib and his deputy Liton Das

Bangladesh ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal said that his side has the potential to be the best unit in the world after the Tigers’ sealed their maiden 10-wicket victory in ODIs in their final match against Ireland at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Thursday. 

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha lauded the Tigers’ ODI and Test skipper Shakib Al Hasan for reaching the milestone of 7000 ODI runs in ODIs, saying that had the premier all-rounder played in conditions like England, Australia, or even India, he would have scored around 12,000 runs in the 50-over format.

Tamim Iqbal completed 15000 international runs before falling to a run-out.

Tamim, who turns 34 today, will also look to personally recover from a lean patch of form.

Overcast conditions welcomed the Bangladesh ODI side at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium yesterday as they put in the final touches in practice ahead of the first ODI against Ireland, which will begin at 2:00PM today.

In overcast conditions mimicking the ‘English weather’, the Tigers went about their practice session at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium yesterday with individuals looking to build on the confidence from the England series as they geared up for the ODI series against Ireland, slated to begin today.

Ahead of the two white-ball series against England, all the noise in the media related to the captains of the two respective formats, ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal and T20I counterpart Shakib Al Hasan, not being on talking terms.

Skipper Tamim Iqbal felt that having a bad series is part and parcel of the game but when some members of the team do not perform, others need to stand up.

After top scoring for the side with a 75-run knock that helped Bangladesh post a competitive 246, Shakib returned match-winning figures of 4-35 to bundle out England for 196. The 35-year-old also went on to become the first Bangladesh player to take 300 ODI wickets in their consolation victory

"We were really looking forward to this game. We wanted to finish on a high. Still disappointed because we lost the series. The first game was a killer. Praise must go to England and the way they played,” Tamim said during the post-match presentation.

“A strong domestic system is obviously the perfect springboard for the international side. Pitches are really important in age-group cricket, leading into first class cricket. The coaches are important and I believe employing some senior successful players and coaches will help set this,” he said

Bangladesh opener Rony Talukdar's stellar run in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League for the Rangpur Riders earned him a comeback to the Tigers T20I squad gearing up to face England in the three-match series next week.

“I thought the position we were in; we should have scored at least 30-35 more. It was a good wicket for spinners. We started well and lost three back-to-back wickets. 250 is gettable on this wicket. We were going like that,” Tamim said

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha was not interested to talk about the Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal issue. He wanted to look forward to the future leadership of Liton Das and Mehidi Hasan Miraz. The 54-year-old veered away from those issues and in the build-up to the series asserted that Bangladesh would have the upper hand in the contest.

Bangladesh's first-ever ODI captain Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu opined that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon could have waited till the end of the upcoming England series to give rise to the new talk of the town, relating to the previously assumed strained relationship between two Bangladesh stalwarts -- Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal. 

After having the media analyse and scrutinise the now-confirmed ‘strained relationship’ between Tamim and Shakib that had gone on to ‘stale the dressing room environment’, Hassan performed a stunning U-turn on his words on Monday, just a day after Tamim denied any ‘unhealthy environment for the past 15 years in the dressing room’ in a pre-series presser in Mirpur.

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha believes the rumoured rift between two senior players won't affect the team's performance on the pitch.

Taijul Islam’s inclusion in the ODI squad for the series against England had raised a few eyebrows as Nasum Ahmed, who has featured regularly in the T20 format, was excluded from the setup. 

Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal has claimed that everything is fine within the team as he tried to brush aside president’s claims of a rift between him and Shakib Al Hasan, during a press conference on Sunday.