Bangladesh call up uncapped Nasum Ahmed for Zimbabwe T20Is

Bangladesh have called up Nasum Ahmed, the 25-year-old left-arm spinner, for the upcoming T20I series against Zimbabwe. The youngster doesn’t have a whole of experience in the format, having picked only eight wickets from 17 matches at an average of 47. The tweaker was a part of the Chattogram Challengers in the 2019-20 edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

In the T20 league, he could only manage six wickets in 13 matches at an economy of 7.26. He was also entrusted to bowl inside the field restrictions and he mostly kept a check on the runs. He recently played a game in the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL), representing the South Zone against Central Zone. In that game, he returned with six wickets, including an impressive six-fer.

Minhajul Abedin, the national chief selector, lauded the spinner and said his performance in the BPL earned him a place in the squad. “Nasum was always in our consideration since he did well in the last BPL,” Abedin was quoted as saying in Sport24. Along with Nasum, Bangladesh also picked the likes of Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam and Afif Hossain as their spinners.

Mushfiqur Rahim returns

Mahedi and Afif are more than handy prospects with the bat as well. Hasan Mahmud, who has featured in quite a few Tigers’ squad, but is yet to make his debut, has also been picked. Mushfiqur Rahim staked his claim back into the team after being dropped for the last ODI. Mushfiqur wasn’t a part of the T20Is in Pakistan and last played in the format back in November 2019 against India.

Mahmudullah has been persisted with as the skipper. Mohammad Saifuddin impressed in the ODIs and he will be keen to make an impact. The onus will also be on the experienced heads of Tamim Iqbal and Liton Das. The two matches will take place on Monday, March 9 and Wednesday, March 11 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka.

Here’s the Bangladesh squad

Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Naim, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Hasan Mahmud and Nasum Ahmed