The skipper sustained an injury to his leg while bowling in the nets in Dhaka on Friday © Getty

Just days after putting all the retirement speculation to rest and being picked for the Sri Lanka ODIs, captain Mashrafe Mortaza will now miss the series after sustaining an injury to his left hamstring during a net session at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka, on Friday (July 19). Fast bowler Taskin Ahmed has been picked as Mortaza's replacement.

In Mortaza's absence, Tamim Iqbal will lead the side. Even though the veteran has led Bangladesh in a Test match, this is the first time he is taking over leadership duties in ODIs.

"Mortaza injured his left hamstring during training today. He received immediate MSK ultrasound examination which has revealed a grade 1 injury. It is a recurrent injury that could take around three to four weeks to recover from. Therefore, he is ruled out from participation in sporting activity for a month," Debashish Chowdhury, the team's chief physician confirmed.

Incidentally, Mortaza removed his knee cap immediately after he felt some pain during his run-up at nets.

Bangladesh will also be without allrounder Saifuddin, who has also been ruled out as a result of his persistent back problem. The seam-bowling allrounder who impressed in the World Cup game against India with a fifty, has been troubled by the injury since the tri series in Ireland, earlier in the year. Farhad Reza has been brought in as his replacement.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play three ODIs on July 26, 28 and 31 respectively.