Bangladesh rested regular captain Litton Das and Taskin Ahmed, while dropping middle-order batter Shamim Hossain Patwary, from the three-match T20 International series against Zimbabwe scheduled for 15, 17 and 19 July at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
It was learned that Litton and Taskin will be playing in the Lanka Premier League T20, while Shamim was dropped owing to his recent form with the bat.
In the absence of Litton, Towhid Hridoy will continue to captain the side.
“Litton and Taskin’s leave of absence was granted a while ago,” chief selector Habibul Bashar Sumon told Daily Sun.
Meanwhile, Yasir Ali was brought back into the mix because of his big-hitting potential in the lower middle order, while Mosaddek Hossain Saikat’s current form with both willow and cherry in the recent One Day International series against Australia prompted selectors to pick him.
“Shamim hasn’t been scoring runs in his last 9-10 innings. We are giving him a break so that he can rediscover his form, and meanwhile we will try a few players like Yasir who can hit big shots at number six-seven. And Mosaddek did well in ODIs, which is a different format, but we are hoping his bowling and batting can be useful in the T20 side,” Bashar explained.
Pace-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin, who missed the last T20I series against the Aussies, has also been brought back to create an alternative in the lower middle order.
“We want to go with two pacers and one pace-bowling all-rounder. We tried that combination against Australia, and we will try it again. So that’s where Saifuddin comes in,” he said.
Bangladesh T20 team: Towhid Hridoy (Captain), Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Mohammed Saif Hassan, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Rishad Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana, Mohammad Saifuddin, Abdul Gaffar Saqlain.
