Shofiul expected to be called up while Emon surprised to be in Bangladesh squad

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have announced a preliminary squad for the upcoming series against West Indies on Monday. Two of the under-19 World Cup-winning members have been included to the squad, fast bowler Shoriful Islam and left-handed top-order batsman Parvez Hossain Emon. For Shoriful, he was expecting to be called up, on the other hand, it was quite unexpected for Emon. 

Both have earned their chance by performing consistently through the recent tournaments held by BCB. Right-hand medium-pacer Shoriful has picked up 16 wickets from 10 matches in the Bangabandhu T-20 cup, which placed him fourth among the highest wicket-takers in the tournament. 

Left-hand batsmen Emon has scored 233 runs from nine matches in the same tournament, helped himself with a half-century and a century. His 42-ball century against Rajshahi is the fastest in the history of Bangladesh's T20 history. 

While speaking about his call up to The Business Standard (TBS), Shoriful expressed his desire to get into the main squad by performing well in the camp: "I'm so happy at the moment. I've been working so hard to get here. I've performed well in the previous tournaments so I have had an expectation to get called up. Now my goal is to perform well in the camp so that I could get into the main squad. I'll give my best wherever I play.''

Though Shoriful was expecting the reward of his consistently good performances, Parvez Hossain Emon was in no hurry as it seems: "I was in shock seeing my name in the squad. I didn't think that I would get called up this soon. But now I'm happy that I got the chance, this is a big step for a young player like me. I've played well in recent tournaments but would've been better if I were more consistent. Now I'm excited and looking forward to playing in the practice matches and perform well there." 

Two practice matches will be held on January 14 and 16 between the members of the preliminary squad. BCB will announce the main squad for the series after the practice matches.