Leg-spinner Jubair Hossain is the only notable omission as the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced 27-member preliminary squad for the forthcoming international Twenty20 commitments on Wednesday.
Jubair, who made his T20I debut during the Zimbabwe series in November last year, was unable to make the cut apparently due to his lack of match practice as he went unpicked in the Bangladesh Premier League.
The players were asked to report national team’s strength & conditioning coach Mario Villavarayen at the National Cricket Academy on January 3.
The squad was announced ahead of the planned Twenty20 international series against Zimbabwe, though the BCB is yet to announce the schedule.
BCB officials said negotiation with concerned stakeholders is at the final stage to hold the three T20Is in between January 15 to 23.
Pace bowler Rubel Hossain was also ignored as he is currently nursing a calf injury that he aggravated during the BPL.
Selectors rewarded left-arm pace bowler Abu Hider for his noteworthy performance in the BPL by including him for the first time in the preliminary squad of the national team.
Hider claimed 21 wickets, the highest for any bowler in any BPL season, playing for the champions Comilla Victorians.
Wicket-keeper batsman Nurul Hasan, also known for his clean hitting capacity, was another player selectors have picked on the basis of recent performances.
Talented young batsman Mossaddek Hossain was also included in the preliminary squad after strong show in recent domestic matches including BPL.
Jahirul Islam, who was left in wilderness for quite some time, also made his BPL performance count by making it in the long list that also contains former national off-spinner Sohag Gazi.
Bangladesh is expected to have a busy T20I schedule ahead as they are expected to play the inaugural edition of Asia Cup Twenty20 international tournament in March.
Tigers will follow it with their participation in the ICC World Twenty20 in India.
SQUAD
Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Mashrafee bin Murtaza, Imrul Kayes, Mustafizur Rahman, Jahirul Islam, Abu Hider, Liton Kumar Das, Al Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Shafiul Islam, Mossadek Hossain, Mohammad Shohid, Mohammad Mithun, Abul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Taskin Ahmed, Sakib al Hasan, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Mahmudullah, Arafat Sunny, Nasir Hossain, Saqlain Sajib, Qazi Nurul Hasan, Sohag Gazi, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury.
-With New Age input
