Bangladesh Cricket Board included uncapped Liton Kumar and pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman in their 14-member Twenty20 squad for the lone Twenty20 international against Pakistan, said a BCB press release on Wednesday. Liton, the most consistent run scorer in the domestic circuit was rewarded for his form with the bat while left-arm pace bowler Mustafizur Rahman was picked in order to keep Rubel Hossain fresh for the two-match Test series following the Twenty 20 match.
‘Mustafizur’s inclusion may come as a surprise to some but he has impressed during his time with the Under-19 and the A team,’ said chief selector Faruk Ahmed in a press release.
‘He is an intelligent bowler with good variation which is required in T20 cricket. Besides, being a left-arm seamer he gives us a different option.
Faruk added that they had included Liton taking future into consideration. Mominul Haque made ways for Liton.
‘Liton has been under our radar for a while and he has the runs behind him in first class and list A cricket.
‘He is one for the future.’
Squad: Tamim Iqbal, Rony Talukdar, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Kumar Das, Sakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah ,Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahaman, Mashrafee bin Murtaza, Taskin Ahmed, Abul Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Arafat Sunny.
-With New Age input