The Faruque Ahmed-led selection panel kept their faith in the old guard that included opener Javed Omar, who was ignored for the ICC (International Cricket Council) Champions Trophy in India, as they believed that the team was on the right track.

"I think there is no scope for us to drop anybody or bring any new face into the team right at the moment because the present lot is doing fine," said chief selector Faruque.

He however said that there was a chance to see one or two cricketers playing the series from outside the preliminary list.

"We will even try players from outside the list if needed because we will definitely take the home advantage. We will announce two different squads for warm-up and Twenty20 games where most of the players are likely to come from outside the list. We will try our best to find a real combination before the World Cup," he explained.

Zimbabwe will arrive in Dhaka on November 23 to play a Twenty20 match and a five-match one-day international series against the Tigers.

The BCB, which retained Shahriar Nafees as Habibul Bashar's deputy for this series also, asked the selected players to report to coach Dav Whatmore at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur October 31 at 9:00am.

It would be a crucial series for Bashar's boys because it would give them an opportunity to avenge their 3-2 defeat away in Zimbabwe earlier this year. Besides, the series in all probability would be the last serious competitive fixture before the Tigers head for next year's World Cup in the West Indies.

"We beat Zimbabwe convincingly in the ICC Champions Trophy (by 101 runs) but we lost the series against them on their home soil. Now we have a point to prove in our own backyard. So, it's a very crucial series for us," said Faruque.

The former national skipper informed that they would try to find a real opening combination during the series.

"We had tried Ashraful (Mohammad) in the opening slot but it didn't clicked that's why we will not consider him as an opener in the coming series. I think the series give us the opportunity to try a new pair for the slot," he said.

Faruque said that they will announce the final team, most likely a 14-member squad, on November 18 or 19 for the first three games of the five-match series.

He also informed that they will allow the selected players to play in the semifinals and final of the Corporate Cricket League and the first two rounds of the National Cricket League which is scheduled to start from November 9.
SQUAD
Habibul Bashar (captain), Shahriar Nafees (vice-captain), Khaled Mashud, Javed Omar, Mohammad Rafique, Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Mashrafee Bin Mortuza, Aftab Ahmed, Tushar Imran, Manjarul Islam Rana, Shahadat Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Nafis Iqbal, Alok Kapali, Enamul Haque, Tapash Baisya, Nazmul Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sakib Al Hasan, Forhad Reza and Mehrab Hossain.