Bangladesh have announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming T20I series against Afghanistan. Shakib Al Hasan will lead the side in the two-match leg, all set to begin from July 14. Shakib missed the one-off Test versus Afghanistan due to a finger injury suffered during the ODI series against Ireland in May.
The series also sees the return of Afif Hossain and Ebadot Hossain. There’s no place for wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali who was in the T20I squad for the Ireland series in March.
Afif, who has also been included in the ODI squad for the series against Afghanistan, played his last T20I match versus England in March. Across 62 T20Is, he has accumulated 1020 runs at a strike rate of 120.28.
On the other hand, Ebadot did not feature in the T20I team against England or Ireland, and his most recent appearance was in the T20 World Cup in November last year. Ebadot made his debut in the T20 format during the Asia Cup in 2022, where he took seven wickets in four T20Is. In the one-off Test against Afghanistan, he showcased a notable performance by claiming figures of 4-47.
The two-match T20I rubber will be played in Sylhet on July 14 and 16 after the three ODIs. Bangladesh have only hosted T20Is in July once before, which was during their encounter against South Africa in 2015.
Bangladesh T20I squad:
Shakib Al Hasan (c), Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Afif Hossain
Schedule for the T20I series:
- First T20I – July 14, Sylhet District Stadium, Sylhet
- Second T20I – July 16, Sylhet District Stadium, Sylhet