Tigers' squad for SL Tests announced

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced the 21-member preliminary squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka Test series. Uncapped pace trio Shoriful Islam, Mukidul Islam Mugdho and Shohidul Islam have been included to the squad while all-rounder Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury has also returned.

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that the three pacers were being rewarded for their performances in the domestic scene and with the High Performance unit. “Shoriful, Mukidul and Shohidul have been in our HP set up and have impressed in whichever version they have played in. Mukidul and Shohidul in particular, have caught the eye in domestic first-class this season and are future Test prospects. They all have age on their side and are talented,” the chief selector was quoted in a BCB press release.

Shuvagata, who last played a Test match in 2016 against England, was called up as a spin-bowling all-rounder, to presumably plug the gap left by the absence of ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who won’t take part in the series and instead will play in the Indian Premier League. “Shuvagata is coming back after a while but he has been a consistent performer in first-class cricket. We have considered him as a batting all-rounder but his off-break is pretty handy also and gives us an option in the spin department,” Minhajul said. Minhajul, on Thursday, had said that the BCB will take a preliminary squad to Sri Lanka and will later trim it down to the main squad after observing a two-day intra-squad match on April 17-18 in Katunayeke. The Test series will begin on April 21 and the second match will commence on April 29 and both the games will take place in Pallekele.

Preliminary squad: Mominul Haque, Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed, Taijul Islam, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Saif Hasan, Yasir Ali, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam, Shuvagata Hom, Shohidul Islam, Nurul Hasan.

Uncapped pace trio Shoriful Islam, Mukidul Islam Mugdho and Shohidul Islam included