Bangladesh squad for first Test vs Sri Lanka announced

Bangladesh National Cricket Team have announced a strong 15-man 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 Bangladesh all-format tour. They won the thrilling T20I series 2-1 but lost to Bangladesh in the ODI series 1-2. Next, the teams will lock horns with each other in the 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 start on Saturday, March 30 in Chattogram.

Talking about the squad, the Bangladesh National Cricket Team have made some interesting inclusions. The Bangla Tigers have called up pacer Nahid Rana, who has bagged 63 wickets in three domestic seasons at an average of 21.92, with three five-wicket hauls.

Other changes in the Bangladesh squad, include the addition of Musfik Hasan and Litton Das. Das, who was recently dropped from the ODI team after going through a lean patch for an extended period of time, has made his comeback to the Test team after missing the previous Test series against the New Zealand National Cricket Team.

To make place for Nahid Rana, Musfik Hasan, and Litton Das in the team the selection committee has dropped wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan, pacer Hasan Mahmud, and left-arm spinner Hasan Murad.

Rana is a very exciting prospect – Abdur Razzak

Abdur Razzak, who is a member of the BCB selection committee, spoke about the additions of the young pacers to the squad. He said that both Rana and Hasan are exciting prospects and the Sri Lanka series will provide them a lot of exposure.

“Rana is a very exciting prospect. He is probably the quickest bowler in Bangladesh at the moment and can also extract steep bounce,” former Bangladesh player and a member of the current selection panel, Abdur Razzak, said.

“Although these are early days for him, his first-class record is quite impressive. There is another young pacer Mushfik Hasan in the squad. This is the right time for these pacers to get the experience as Ebadot (Hossain) is out injured and Taskin (Ahmed) is also not playing Tests at the moment.”

The series against Sri Lanka will be the first assignment of Najmul Hossain Shanto in the ICC World Test Championship since taking over as full-time captain of the team. The series holds crucial importance for both teams as they would be looking forward to better their position in the ICC World Test Championship Points Table.

Currently, the Bangla Tigers are at the fourth spot in the rankings with a PCT of 50.00. Sri Lanka National Cricket Team, on the other hand, are at the very bottom of the table as they have a PCT of 0.

Bangladesh Test squad: 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, Mushfik Hasan, Nahid Rana.