Saifuddin last played T20I for Bangladesh in October 2022, shortly before the T20 World Cup in Australia. He suffered a back injury that kept him out until January this year, after which he returned during the BPL, where he took 15 wickets in nine matches in Fortune Barishal’s first BPL title run.
Meanwhile, left-handed opener Tanzid has a maiden T20I call-up. He has played 15 ODIs since his debut last year. He had a decent BPL campaign but was not part of the T20I against Sri Lanka last month.
Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib Al Hasan will not be in the squad for the first three matches. Shakib will return to Dhaka on April 30, after which he will likely play in the Dhaka Premier League. [DPL] match before joining the team for the remaining two matches. Mustafizur will arrive on May 2 after his IPL stint and will undergo a fitness assessment before being considered for the final two T20Is against Zimbabwe in Dhaka.
Anamul Haque, Taijul Islam and Mohammad Naim were left out of the team that played T20Is against Sri Lanka, while Soumya Sarkar is still recovering from the knee injury she suffered during the third ODI of that series.
The first three T20Is will be played in Chattogram on May 3, 5 and 7, before the action moves to Dhaka for the final two games on May 10 and 12.
Bangladesh squad for first three T20Is: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan, Parvez Hossain, Tanvir Islam , Afif Hossain, Muhammad Saifuddin