Dubai: Fast bowler Abu Jayed, who has been named in Bangladesh’s 15-man squad for the World Cup, targets to “make a place in the playing XI”.
The 25-year-old has picked up 11 wickets in five Tests and four wickets from three T20Is but is uncapped in ODI cricket. Jayed, however, looked impressive in the recent Test series against New Zealand. He then went on to claim nine scalps in his five outings for Prime Dholeshar in the Dhaka Premier League (DPL).
“I played well in two matches of DPL recently and I felt I could have been in the 20-member preliminary squad. I was surprised when I heard that I am in the 15-member squad. It is nice to be picked, but now the challenge is to make a place in the playing XI and repay the faith shown by the team management,” ICC quoted Jayed, as saying.
In the backyard of New Zealand, the fast bowler returned with the figures of 3/94 during the Wellington Test.
“I am playing for the last 10 years and during this time, had the opportunity to play a lot of cricket at different levels. So don’t think it will be a big problem. I got appreciated for my ability to swing the ball even by some of the leading batsmen in New Zealand, who believed that if I can work on it I have a good chance of turning into a good bowler. Mashrafe (Mortaza) told me that he is also optimistic about my ability to swing the ball,” Jayed said.
The paceman has had a successful domestic career, picking up 227 first-class wickets at 29.12 and 65 List-A wickets at 31.13.
World Cup is scheduled to be hosted in England from May 30 to July 14. Bangladesh will play against Pakistan and India in the warm-ups before opening its World Cup campaign against South Africa on June 2 at The Oval.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]