The 22-year-old medium paceman from Narayanganj, who has recently recovered from long multiple groin injuries, played his last one-day international against Pakistan in Dhaka in January 2002.

Sharif has been included in the 12-member team for the opening match which will kick off at 1:30pm Bangladesh time.

However, the bad news for millions of cricket fans at home is that they might miss the action due to non-availably of live coverage by any satellite channel available in the country.

The series is Bangladesh's final preparation for next month's World Cup in the West Indies. But after a 5-0 whitewash at home in November last year, the Tigers are upbeat to settle an old score against their battered southern African rivals.

Bangladesh suffered a 3-2 defeat when they last toured Zimbabwe in July-August last year.