The Bangladesh national cricket team has announced a 15-man strong squad for the first Test of the two-match series against the Sri Lanka national cricket team. The announcement was made by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Monday, March 18.
The Lankan Lions are currently on the all-format tour of Bangladesh. They won the exciting T20I series by 2-1 but lost to Bangladesh in the ODI series by 1-2. The teams will then face off in red ball cricket.
The first Test match between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be played from Friday, March 22 in Sylhet. The second and final Test match of the series is scheduled to begin on Saturday, March 30, in Chattogram.
Talking about the team, the Bangladesh National Cricket Team has made some interesting inclusions. The Bangla Tigers have called up pacer Nahid Rana, who has amassed 63 wickets in three domestic seasons at an average of 21.92, with three five-wicket hauls.
Other changes in the Bangladesh team include the addition of Musfik Hasan and Litton Das. Das, who was recently dropped from the ODI team after going through a poor patch for an extended period, returned to the Test team after missing the previous Test series against the New Zealand national cricket team.
To make room for Nahid Rana, Musfik Hasan and Litton Das in the team, the selection committee dropped wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan, pacer Hasan Mahmud and left-arm spinner Hasan Murad.
Rana is a very interesting prospect – Abdur Razzak
BCB selection committee member Abdur Razzak spoke about the additions of the young pacers to the team. He said that both Rana and Hasan are exciting prospects and the Sri Lanka series will give them a lot of exposure.
“Rana is a very interesting prospect. He is probably the fastest bowler in Bangladesh at the moment and he can also get steep bounces,” said former Bangladesh player and member of the current selection panel, Abdur Razzak.
“Although these are early days for him, his first-class record is quite impressive. There is another young pacer in the squad, Mushfik Hasan. “This is the right time for these pacers to gain experience as Ebadot (Hossain) is injured and Taskin (Ahmed) is also not playing Tests at the moment.”
The series against Sri Lanka will be Najmul Hossain Shanto’s first assignment in the ICC World Test Championship since taking over as full-time captain of the team. The series is of crucial importance for both the teams as they hope to improve their position in the ICC World Test Championship points table.
Currently, Bangla Tigers are in fourth place in the rankings with a PCT of 50.00. The Sri Lanka national cricket team, on the other hand, is at the bottom of the table as it has a PCT of 0.
Bangladesh Test Team: Najmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Zakir Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shadman Islam, Litton Kumer Das, Mominul Haque Showrab, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam , Syed Khaled Ahmed, Mushfiq Hasan, Nahid Rana.