Bangladesh announce a new look T20I squad for Pakistan series

International cricket is set to continue for few teams within a week after the T20 World Cup. Pakistan have already reached Bangladesh with the three-match T20I series set to commence on November 19. Apart from Mohammad Hafeez, all the players who were part of the World Cup, have been picked. The hosts Bangladesh have now announced a 16-man new look squad for the T20I series.

Veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out already due to hamstring injury that he picked up during the T20 World Cup in the UAE. Mohammad Saifuddin and Tamim Iqbal are also not available due to different injury concerns while wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim has been rested for the Pakistan series.

There are in total six changes to the World Cup squad with the likes of Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar and Rubel Hossain being dropped from the team.

U19 WC winning captain Akbar Ali gets a call-up

Interestingly, Akbar Ali, the U19 World Cup winning captain, has got a national call-up for the first time to the senior squad. His team defeated India in the final of the World Cup in January 2020 and has been looked at as one of the next big things in Bangladesh cricket. Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Shohidul Islam are the other new inclusions in the squad.

The three T20Is will be played on November 19, 20 and 22 with all the matches set to be played at the National Stadium in Dhaka. Mahmudullah will continue to lead the squad but there will be pressure on him given that Bangladesh didn’t win a single game in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup.

Behaviour of pitches in Bangladesh has been a point of discussion before as well. 120-130 was a winning score earlier this year when Bangladesh faced New Zealand and Australia at home and beat them comfortably. It remains to be seen if the surfaces will be good enough for batting in this series.

Bangladesh T20I squad for Pakistan series: Mahmudullah (captain), Naim Sheikh, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Shohidul Islam, Akbar Ali