Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have announced their 15-man squad for the first two of the three ODIs against Sri Lanka, slated to begin from May 23 to 28. Former skipper Shakib-Al-Hasan will make a comeback as he has been included in the squad.
While Shakib returned to the unit, top-order batsman Najmul Hossain Shanto was snubbed from the group. Whereas, Naim Shaikh, Taijul Islam, and Aminul Islam Biplob have been named as standby players for the first two ODIs.
Shakib was last seen playing international cricket during the West Indies Tests at home when he suffered a thigh strain and couldn’t bat in the second innings. The 34-year-old couldn’t catch the bus for the New Zealand tour owing to his paternity leave.
Shakib had also participated in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 for his franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The Magura-born could only score 38 runs and bag two wickets in three games before the T20 extravaganza was suspended owing to burgeoning COVID-19 cases inside the bio-secure bubble.
Meanwhile, Tamim Iqbal will continue to lead Bangladesh in their limited over campaigns. Sri Lanka arrived in Bangladesh on May 16 and will begin their practice from Friday. Kusal Perera has been named the captain of the side, which does not feature senior players like Angelo Matthews.
All three encounters will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka, following which Sri Lankan players will depart to their home.
Bangladesh squad: Tamim Iqbal (Captain), Liton Kumar Das, Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Md Mithun, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Md Shaif Uddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mahedi Hasan, Shoriful Islam.
