Despite the fact that Bangladesh had a great start to ongoing Asia Cup campaign, they lost their last group match to Afghanistan by a convincing margin. And then, on the first day of the Super Four stage, they got all-out for a meager total of 173 against the defending Asian Champions India. On both of the occasions, the Bangladeshi openers failed to make a mark for themselves.

Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das opened in the tournament opener against Bangladesh, but, Tamim got his left wrist injured by a bouncer off Suranga Lakmal during the Asia Cup opener against Sri Lanka, and that ruled him out of the tournament. Nazmul Hossain Shanto played against Afghanistan as the replacement of Tamim. But, he also failed to impress. Liton Das also failed to prove himself as the long-term solution to the opening problem of the Tigers.

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Due to the regular disappointment of the current openers, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided to recall Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar. While confirming their inclusion to Bangladesh Asia Cup squad, BCB media manager Rabeed Imam says that Imrul and Soumya will depart for UAE on Saturday evening.

Despite being called up to preliminary squad of the Asia Cup earlier, BCB selectors ignored both of them for the multi-nation tournament. Kayes and Sarkar represented Bangladesh for the last time in ODIs during their tour to South Africa in 2017. Their performances were poor during that series and they were sidelined from the team.

Imrul played 70 ODIs scoring 1998 runs at an average of 28.95 while Soumya played 32 ODIs and scored 967 runs at an average of 34.53. Both of these southpaws are known for their stroke-making abilities. But, due to inconsistency, they failed to cement their places in the Bangladesh team. Now, this time around they have got another chance to prove themselves in the 50-over format.