Bangladesh have dropped Mehidy Hasan from the 13-man squad for the first two games of the upcoming T20I triangular series at home. Afghanistan and Zimbabwe are the other two participating teams in the tri-series, which starts September 13.
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Hasan, 21, had an average outing in the ODI series in Sri Lanka, picking only two wickets across three games; his team lost the series 3-0. Bangladesh even lost the home T20I series against West Indies in December last year. In the three matches, Hasan had figures of 2-0-37-0, 3-0-23-1 and 2-0-26-0.
“We have formed this squad looking forward and there is no reason to believe that those who couldn’t make it into the squad won’t have a chance in the upcoming matches,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin told Cricbuzz. “We have only named a squad for the opening two games.
With a T20 World Cup scheduled in Australia next year, Bangladesh have opted for a few new faces in the squad. Mahedi Hasan and Afif Hossain are making an international return, while Yeasin Arafat, the right arm fast-medium bowler, gets a maiden call-up. Mohammad Saifuddin also returns from injury.
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“We have included a few youngsters as we have a lot of Twenty20 matches in the coming days, Abedin said. “Mahedi and Afif are considered our future prospects and we just want to see how they can cope with the pressures of international cricket.
“Mishu [Yeasin] is doing well in the domestic circuit for quite some days and we want to see how he fares at the international level.
“Saifuddin is fit to play. The physio said that he will be able to take the load of shorter version cricket and his back pain is not constant. He is already bowling and we need to be playing him while managing his workload.”
Afif Hossain, the left-hand batsman who bowls offspin, has played in just one T20I, which was against Sri Lanka in February 2018. On the other hand, Mahedi Hasan, the offspinning all-rounder who’s also played in only one T20I, makes it back into the fold.
Ariful Haq, Abu Hider, Najmul Islam, Rubel Hossain and Abu Jayed don’t find a place in the squad. Tamim Iqbal, who’s currently on a leave, wasn’t named in the squad.
Bangladesh squad for first two T20Is: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Liton Kumar Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Yeasin Arafat
