Bangladesh announce their Test Squad to face Pakistan

Bangladesh announce their Test Squad to face Pakistan: Bangladesh have included opening batsman Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das and Mohammad Shahid in their 14 man squad to face Pakistan in the first Test at Khulna, that begins on Tuesday. They replace opener Shasmsur Rahman, Shafiul Islam and Al Amin Hossian from the test squad led by Mushfiqur Rahim that played Zimbabwe last year.

Soumya was given a chance courtesy his brilliant performances with the bat in the recent past while the other two were rewarded for having a consistent domestic season. The rest of the stadium stays the same.

Bangladesh chief selector Faruque Ahmed said that the newcomers’ deserved their spots with some consistent performance in the domestic circuit. Ahmed also believes that this is the right time for Bangladesh cricket and its young cricketers to grow. So he decided to give players a go in the longer-format.

Ahmed in a statement said The newcomers deserve their spots through their performances in domestic and international cricket. Shahid is a strong lad capable of bowling long spells and he has been a consistent performer in first-class games. Litton has scored heavily in the last couple of seasons while Soumya has started strongly in ODIs. We prefer to give players a reasonable run and Imrul Kayes keeps his place by virtue of his performance in the last Test series. Shahadat has bowled very well in the National Cricket League and he also has the experience.

Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Litton Das, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Shuvagata Hom, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Mohammad Shahid.