The Bangladesh Cricket Board announced a 21-member preliminary squad for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka.
The squad includes three uncapped pacers – Mukidul Islam, Shahidul Islam and Shoriful Islam, while Nurul Hasan, Shuvagoto Hom and Khaled Ahmed return to the Bangladesh squad.
Bangladeshi star all-rounder Shakib Al Hassan and left-arm speedster Mustafizur Rahman decided to opt out of the tour to play in the IPL. The BCB has given them the green light and issued necessary NOCs.
The streamlined side will be led by Mominul Haque, while he will expect to have the support of senior hands like Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das.
“We have formed an extended squad as we will not have net bowlers. While we will also play an intra-squad practice match, we will announce the Test squad after the practice game, and the Cricketers failing to make a spot in the Test squad will return home in due time,” stated BCB chief selector Minhajul Abedin.
Bangladesh will play a two-day intra-squad warm-up game, which is scheduled on April 17-18 at CMC, Katunayake.
The series against Sri Lanka was originally scheduled for July last year, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Another attempt was made to play the series in October-November, but it did not materialize as Bangladesh were not ready to comply with the 14-day quarantine in Sri Lanka.
Bangladesh Test squad: Mominul Haque (c), Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Khan, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Mohammad Hasan, Yasir Ali, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Shahidul Islam, Nurul Hasan.
