Table of Contents
As part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), Bangladesh are set to lock horns with Sri Lanka in a three-match series scheduled to begin in October.
Ahead of the much-anticipated red-ball series, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced a 27-man squad for the upcoming series. Mahmudullah Riyad and Mustafizur Rahman along with many young players have been shortlisted in the squad.
“Yes, Mahmudullah is there in the 27-member preliminary squad that we prepared for government order ahead of the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka,” BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin told Cricbuzz.
“This is just a preliminary squad, and we are working on visas for all these players. But when we will get into the hotel for the residential camp ahead of the tour, it will be shortened to 20 cricketers.
“We are keeping everyone in the preliminary squad because we have to keep some stand-by. Considering the present COVID situation, stand-by’s are very important so we decided to keep seven. We have picked nine pace bowlers in the preliminary squad but that does not mean we will pick all of them as six pace bowlers will travel with us in the 20-member squad. We’ll select the 17-member Test squad after going to Sri Lanka and we will send the other three cricketers back to Dhaka,” Abedin added.
However, the Bangladesh tour to Sri Lanka, which was postponed in the first place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, still remains doubtful due to the inability of the hosts to relay the official itinerary as well as the biosecurity bubble plans for the series.
Currently, Bangladesh are expected to travel to Sri Lanka on September 27, and the Test series is scheduled to begin from October 24 in Kandy.
Bangladesh squad for Sri Lanka tour:
Mominul Haque (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Sadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Nazmul Hasan Shanto, Mossadek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan, Mehedy Hasan Miraj, Taijul Islam, Sanjamul Islam, Naeem Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Al Amin Hossain, Saifuddin, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed, Hasan Mahmud.
