It will be a massive blow for the Bangladesh side ahead of their T20 series against Zimbabwe. The team’s stars, Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman, were not included in it for the first three matches.
Shakib was omitted as he desired to play in the Dhaka Premier League, Bangladesh’s premier first-class competition. Rahman was given a break owing to his prolonged involvement with the game and lack of rest.
Rahman was given a break owing to his increased workload. He has been on the move continuously since the Sri Lanka series. Before that, he played in the Bangladesh Premier League and then represented Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.
The selectors felt it fitting to give Rahman a break before the T20 World Cup, slated to be held in June this year in the West Indies and USA.
“Shakib is expected to come on April 30, and he desires to play two DPL games. We felt it could be good as in the T20 format, you don’t get time to get ready in the middle, and he can have that time,” said the selector, Hannan Sarkar, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“Mustafizur is not in the squad as he has been playing for a long time. He played in the BPL and Sri Lanka T20 series and later moved to the IPL. He has been playing for a long time, and he needs recovery, both mentally and physically. Our chief selector spoke with him, and he wanted recovery time in one portion of the series. We did not include him in the first three games. We might include him in the second portion, meaning the last two T20Is,” he added.
Young opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim will likely make his T20I debut in this series, with the likes of Anamul Haque Bijoy, Mohammad Naim, Soumya Sarkar, Aliss Al Islam and Taijul Islam failing to cut. Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanvir Islam, Afif Hossain, and Mohammad Saifuddin returned to the side led by Najmul Hossain Shanto.
Bangladesh Squad for First Three T20Is Against Zimbabwe
Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Litton Kumer Das, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmud Ullah, Jaker Ali Anik, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanvir Islam, Afif Hossain, Saifuddin.
