DHAKA, Oct 6: Bangladesh named three new caps on Monday in a 14-man squad weakened by the loss of rebel players for the One-day International home series against New Zealand starting this week.

Imrul Kayes, Naeem Islam and Mahbubul Alam joined the recalled pair of wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and pace bowler Syed Rasel to fill the gap left after rebel players joined the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) last month.

Bangladesh lost 14 leading cricketers including batsman Alok Kapali, all-rounder Farhad Reza and wicket-keeper Dhiman Ghosh when they joined the ICL and were banned by the Bangladesh Cricket Board for 10 years.“These three [uncapped players] are also good players. They showed good performance in recent home leagues,” chief selector Rafiqul Alam told reporters of opening batsman Imrul, middle order batsman Naeem and pace bowler Mahbubul.

Middle-order batsman Raqibul Hassan was absent from the squad through injury while pace bowlers Dollar Mahmud and Nazmul Hossain were axed for their bad performances in the 3-0 series loss in Australia in August and September.

Bangladesh will name squad for two Tests to be played in Chittagong and Dhaka against the tourists later this month.

The first and the second one-dayers will be played in Dhaka on Thursday and Saturday, while the third in Chittagong on Oct 14.

Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (captain), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Junaed Siddique, Imrul Kayes, Mehrab Hossain Jr, Naeem Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Mahbubul Alam, Shahadat Hossain.—Reuters