Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Friday announced their 15-man squad for next month’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Experienced fast bowler Rubel Hossain was one notable omission as he has been demoted to the reserve list.
Rubel failed to make a cut in the final fifteen despite being present in the squad during the ongoing home series against New Zealand. The 31-year-old pacer, who has played 28 T20Is so far, last featured for his national side in April this year.
Well, it will be the start of a new era in some ways for Bangladesh, with veteran opener Tamim Iqbal opting out of the tournament to give the youngsters a chance to shine. Tamim was the top run-scorer (295 at 73.75) for the Tigers in the 2016 World T20. In his place, openers Naim Sheikh and Liton Das will both be out to impress.
21-year-old all-rounder Shamim Hossain and 20-year-old seamer Shoriful Islam, who were part of the Bangladesh team that won the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in early 2020, will now feature in the T20 World Cup 2021.
Mahmudullah’s Bangladesh are in Group B alongside Oman, Papua New Guinea and Scotland and will qualify for the Super 12 stage if they finish among the top 2 in their group.
Bangladesh will take on Scotland in their first match of the tournament on October 17.
Squad: Mahmudullah (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Soumya Sarkar, Liton Kumar Das, Afif Hossain, Mohammad Naim, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shamim Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed
Reserves: Aminul Islam, Rubel Hossain.
