Fortune Barishal batter Munim Shahriar earns maiden call-up; Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan left out
The comebacks of Mushfiqur and Litton were always on the cards, given their experience. Mumnim’s presence, meanwhile, brings freshness to the group. The 23-year-old showed the willingness to take risks in the powerplay and gave Fortune Barishal good starts in at least four of his six appearances this BPL.
Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Aminul Islam and Akbar Ali were left out of the squad.
Minhajul Abedin, the chief selector, said that Shamim and Nurul could still be part of Bangladesh’s plans.
“We need a bit of stability in our T20 side,” Minhajul Abedin said. “Shamim and (Nurul Hasan) Sohan aren’t out of the system. We will keep an eye on them. We have picked Munim Shahriar after following him for a year since he was included in the High Performance squad.”
Legspinner Aminul was also dropped, which isn’t a big surprise given the Bangladesh selectors and management’s reluctance towards that variety of spin. Akbar too lost his place, mainly because of the return of Mushfiqur and Litton.
The selectors, however, retained Mohammad Naim, hoping he finds form despite a poor BPL campaign.
The T20I series will begin on March 3 in Dhaka, three days after the end of the ODI series in Chattogram. Dhaka will also host the second – and final – T20I on March 5.
Bangladesh T20I squad: Mahmudullah (capt.), Litton Das, Munim Shahriar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Yasir Ali, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Shohidul Islam, Mohammad Naim
In: Litton Das, Munim Shahriar, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim
Out: Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Aminul Islam, Akbar Ali
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84