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The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Sunday announced a 15-member squad for their three-match T20 international series against India with all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz returning to the side after a gap of 14 months.

The last time Mehidy played for the country in the shortest format of the game was in July 2023.

Left-handed opening batter Pervez Hossain Emong and left-arm spinner Rakibul Hasan also returned to the squad. Both of them last played in T20Is almost a year ago. 

From the last World Cup, where Bangladesh played their last match in this format, Soumya Sarker and Tanvir Islam are out along with Shakib, who recently announced that as for now he had played his last game in this format in the last World Cup. 

Mehidy has been picked in place of Shakib, according to chief selector Gazi Asharaf Hossain. 

‘The great Shakib Al Hasan has announced that he played his last match in this format’, Ashraf said in a video statement.

‘The experience and performances he’s had — we don’t have anyone closer to him at the moment. 

‘But we think that in the batting, someone like Mehidy Hasan Miraz can cope. He will take that place. We think that he will contribute with the bat, mostly though he bowls off spin.’ 

The chief selector also said that they want to see Mehidy bat in middle order rather than in a finishing role. 

Mehidy has so far played in 25 T20Is where he scored 240 runs and took 13 wickets. Ashraf said that it was after a mutual discussion that Mehidy was left out earlier. 

Explaining why Mehidy wasn’t picked earlier, Ashraf said, ‘The main reason behind not picking him in the last World Cup was that we considered his both batting and bowling in the other two formats as so important. So that the aggression of T20 doesn’t affect his batting. Also, we didn’t think his bowling was a good option for the powerplay in the T20s.’ 

He also stated that they had a clear discussion with Mehidy on this matter. 

But now, his inclusion is bound to happen. Asharf said, ‘[But] sometimes there are some unexpected occurrences. Then we have to try to fill the gap.’

The chief selector also explained the reason for picking the two young left-handers, Emon and Rakibul. Both of them were the members of the U-19 squad that won the World Cup in 2020.

Emon, the opener so far, played three T20Is, though two of them were at the Asian Games in 2023, where the team being sent was basically an A team. 

But now, he’s considered to be a replacement for Soumya Sarker, another lefty in the top order. 

‘We have brought these with some thoughts. We want to try Parvej Hossain Emon instead of Soumya Sarker. We had kept him in the training session before the World Cup. We think that we want to include him in our primary journey into the future,’ said Ashraf.

Tanvir, another left arm spinner, has ruled out for an injury in the hand. According to the chief selector, they wanted to give the captain as many combinations as they could. Rakibul, who played all three T20Is in the 2023 Asian Games, fits into that. 

‘We cannot say that everyone in this squad will take a place in the starting XI automatically. But we do think that if the captain thinks of a particular combination, then Rakibul would be a good option,’ said Ashraf.

The three-match series will begin in Gwalior on October 6. Then the second match will be held in Delhi on October 9. The third and final match will be in Hyderabad on October 12. 

Squad

Najmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Liton Das, Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Rakibul Hasan.