By Qaiser Mohammad Ali
IANS
Dhaka : Bangladesh cricket selectors late Thursday evening called pacer Mohammad Sharif as a backup to Shahadat Hossain for the second and final Test against India starting here Friday.
Chief selector Faruque Ahmed confirmed that genuine speedster Sharif, 21, has been called after Hossain complained of body ache and flu.
"We have asked Sharif to join the team as a backup to Shahadat Hossain who has body ache and flu. Bit it is not a major problem," Ahmed told IANS.
Sharif played the last of his eight Tests in January 2002 and of the nine one-day internationals (ODIs) his most recent match was in February this year. He has taken 14 wickets in Tests and 10 in ODIs.
Ahmed said he was still playing and was in form.
"Even today he played a Premier League limited overs game for Sonargaon and took two wickets against Biman," he pointed out.
Since Sharif lives in Dhaka he will not have any problem in joining the team quickly.
Sharif had a groin injury after the 2003 World Cup and needed a few operations in India and Australia to fix the problem.
Bangladesh team: Habibul Bashar (captain), Mohammad Ashraful (vice-captain), Javed Omer, Shahriar Nafees, Shakibul Hasan, Rajin Saleh, Mashrafe Mortaza, Khaled Mashud (wicketkeeper), Mohammed Rafique, Enamul Haque (junior), Shahadat Hossain, Tushar Imran, Syed Rasel, Mehrab Hossain (junior) and Mohammad Sharif