BCB names Bangladesh squad for T20I tri-series series against Afghanistan and Zimbabwe

After the shocking loss to Afghanistan in the one-off Test match, Bangladesh now gears up for the T20I tri-series. The other two teams taking part in this series will be Afghanistan and Zimbabwe. Although Zimbabwe was suspended by the ICC, that suspension only holds for the ICC tournaments. Thus, the team is allowed to participate in this series even though there were a few doubts earlier.

The selectors, on Monday, have announced the squad for the first two games of the series. According to reports, a few changes are expected for the remaining games. Yasin Arafat is a new name in the squad for this series. Apart from him, the Bangladesh selectors have also decided to include Mahedi Hasan. The youngster played one T20I for his team thus far.

Can Bangladesh bounce back?

The loss to Rashid Khan and his men in the Test match would have surely hurt the Bangladesh cricketers and fans. A 224-run margin defeat would have been surely embarrassing and not something that the team would have even imagined about. Thus, the players are likely to be highly dejected and disappointed. However, this also gives them enough motivation to perform well in the T20I series.

Shakib Al Hasan and his men will love to bounce back and prove a point. There is a good amount of experience and depth in the squad that is picked. The likes of Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim and others will have their task cut out. Moreover, Mohammad Saifuddin is back in the set-up after recovering from his injury. Likewise with Mustafizur Rahman who didn’t feature in the Test match.

Consistent performances at the domestic level have paid rewards for Afif Hossain. The 19-year-old debuted for Bangladesh in the T20I format back in 2018. However, he didn’t get many opportunities since then and has constantly been knocking on the doors of the selectors. In his maiden outing, he was extremely expensive and will look to make amends this time around.

Squad for the first two games: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Mohd. Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Yasin Arafat