Kimberley (South Africa), Oct 14 (AFP) The return ofleading all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan provides encouragement forBangladesh ahead of a three-match one-day international seriesagainst South Africa starting at the Diamond Oval tomorrow.
But Bangladesh, outplayed in two Tests against the hosts,will have to contend with a South African team strengthened bythe inclusion of AB de Villiers, one of the world's mostdazzling limited-overs batsmen.
Also back in international action for South Africa is JPDuminy, who retired from Test cricket after a run of lowscores, but who remains a highly effective one-day player.
In the most recent one-day outings for both teams,Bangladesh reached the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Leaguein England in June, while South Africa failed to advancebeyond the group stage.
Bangladesh were victorious in their two most recent one-day internationals against South Africa when they won a seriesat home in 2015.
But the hosts will start strong favourites.
South Africa have won 14 of 17 one-day matches againstBangladesh and triumphed in all six previous encounters inSouth Africa by convincing margins.
Bangladesh will be under new leadership with veteranbowler Mashrafe Mortaza captaining the side instead ofMushfiqur Rahim, who remains in the squad.
Although Shakib's return from a brief sabbatical willstrengthen the tourists, they still rely mainly on the playerswho suffered two crushing Test defeats.
Nor was there any encouragement for Bangladesh when theywere convincingly beaten by an invitation team in a warm-upmatch in Bloemfontein on Thursday, despite Shakib top scoringfor the tourists with 68.
For South Africa, the series is the first step on a roadto the 2019 World Cup.
Faf du Plessis has replaced De Villiers as the one-daycaptain and together with new coach Ottis Gibson will beseeking to build a squad capable of challenging for globalhonours.
West Indian Gibson said the intention was to giveopportunities over the next year to a large number of players,effectively serving notice to players currently in the squadthat they need to perform to remain in the mix.
SQUADS:South Africa: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, TembaBavuma, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock (wkt), AB deVilliers, JP Duminy, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Wayne Parnell,Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, KagisoRabadaCoach: Ottis Gibson (WIS)Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Imrul Kayes, LitonDas (wkt), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin,Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wkt), Mustafizur Rahman, NasirHossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, SoumyaSarkar, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.
Coach: Chandika Hathurusingha (SRI)ODI FIXTURESOct 15: KimberleyOct 18: PaarlOct 22: East London. (AFP)ATK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.