Mohammad Saifuddin received his maiden call-up to the Bangladesh squad for the two-match T20I series against Sri Lanka which starts on April 4. The 20-year-old was a part of the Under-19 World Cup side that reached the semifinal in 2016 and was recently involved with the U-23 team in the Asian Cricket Council Emerging Teams Cup. He is the only addition to the One-Day International (ODI) squad.
Bangladesh had never won a Test against Sri Lanka and they finally ticked that box by leveling the series 1-1. The ODIs started with the visitors taking a lead before the second game was washed out, and the third saw the hosts fight back to square the series. On what has been one of their most successful tours, the Bangladesh selectors decided not to tinker with the set group of players.
The only omissions, Rubel Hossain and Shuvagata Hom, did not play any part in the three ODIs and will return home before the start of the final leg. The former has found it hard to break into the side with Mashrafe Mortaza, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman making up the pace attack, while the latter lost his place to Mosaddek Hossain.
Saifuddin, who is a right-arm pacer, can also use the long handle lower down the order. His performances in the U-23 tournament where he contributed with both bat and ball helped him find a place in the T20I squad.
Both the Test and ODI series were drawn level and the upcoming T20Is could determine a clear winner in the fixture.
Squad
Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Sanjamul Islam, Nurul Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin
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