Bangladesh on Saturday (January 18) welcomed the return of veteran opening batsman Tamim Iqbal for the three-match T20I series versus Pakistan, beginning later this month. Apart from Tamim, selectors also brought back pacer Rubel Hussain and gave 20-year-old quick Hasan Mahmud his maiden call-up.
This will be Tamim's first international assignment post July 2019 when he first took a break from the game due to a string of low scores and then skipped the tour of India in November because of personal reasons.
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The left-hand batsman, who has been cleared to participate in the first leg of the three-part tour of Pakistan after recovering from a groin injury, last played a T20I in December 2018, which is slightly earlier to when Hossain last turned up in the shortest-format for Bangladesh.
"There was an injury concern of Tamim but he was cleared and we are delighted to have him back as we need some senior guys in the team to lead from the considering some of our senior members are missing," Bangladesh chief selector Minhajul Abedin told Cricbuzz.
"As for Rubel he is in and out of the national team for the last one year but looked to be bowling consistently in one area in the BPL and we preferred him over others as he got the experience that might be essential to doing well in Pakistan."
The decision to pick young Mahmud, though, raises eyebrows as his record in domestic T20s doesn't give a good reading: 10 wickets at an economy rate of over nine in 13 matches. But he has done slightly better in first-class and List A cricket.
"Hasan is the quickest bowler for us at the moment and we included him just seeing his raw pace. We feel if he is nurtured in the national dressing room it will not take him long to make him capable of dealing the pressure of international cricket," Minhajul added.
Meanwhile, left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has been dropped after picking just two wickets in nine games during the just-concluded Bangladesh Premier League season. Besides Islam, selectors further looked past Arafat Sunny and Abu Hider, while former skipper Mushfiqur Rahim opted out of this tour because of security concerns.
All three T20Is will be played in Lahore, starting on January 24 followed by the next two on January 25 and 27 respectively.
Bangladesh returns to Pakistan for the tour's second leg, featuring a Test beginning February 7 in Rawalpindi.
The third leg includes an ODI in Karachi on April 3 before the second Test championship fixture is also played at the National Stadium from April 5.
Bangladesh T20I squad: Mahmudullah (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Moammad Naim, Najmul Hossain, Litton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Aminul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Hasan Mahmud
(Inputs from Cricbuzz)
