Liton Das and Shakib Al Hasan have been left out of the Bangladesh squad for the forthcoming Champions Trophy, which will be held in Pakistan and the UAE in February, as the BCB announced the 15-member squad on Sunday.听
The Gazi Ashraf Hossain-led national selection committee has opted to uncapped batter Parvez Hossain, while pacer Shoriful Islam has also lost his place.听
Liton鈥檚 axe came on the back of his current form, according to Ashraf. The wicketkeeper-batter last hit an ODI fifty 13 innings ago in the 2023 World Cup, while his last seven innings were in single digits. Across the format, Liton鈥檚 last fifty came in August last year when he scored 138 in a Test against Pakistan.听
鈥楲iton is out of form,鈥� said Ashraf during a press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Sunday.
鈥楩irstly, he has been struggling to score in this format. The pattern of his dismissals has been similar.鈥�
Ashraf also mentioned that an out-of-form Liton created pressure on his batting partner, and they couldn鈥檛 risk playing an out-of-form batter in a condition that they expected to be batting friendly.听
鈥業n white-ball cricket, you have to take advantage of batting in powerplay. We scored 300-plus in the West Indies; if you may see Liton鈥檚 strike rate there,鈥� he said.听
鈥楬e hasn鈥檛 been able to occupy the crease. So a pressure has been created on his opening partner. The number three also has had to come quickly,鈥� Ashraf added.听
Liton didn鈥檛 open in the last series against the West Indies as he batted at three. According to Ashraf, Soumya Sarkar and Tanzid Hasan will continue to open in the Champions Trophy.听
And if necessary, Parvez will come into the fore as his aggressiveness and tempo match that of the other two.听
Ashraf also thinks that a break will help Liton to make a strong comeback.听
鈥楾here鈥檚 no doubt in Liton鈥檚 class and talent. So if there鈥檚 something lacking, and if we can work on that, then we will be able to bring him back with more strengths,鈥� said Ashraf.听
In the absence of Liton, Mushfiqur Rahim is likely to take the gloves in the tournament.听
Meanwhile, the selectors didn鈥檛 consider veteran all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is now suspended from bowling due to an illegal action for which he was first suspected during his last county stint in England with Surrey.
Ahead of announcing the squad, BCB said in a press release that Shakib failed at an independent reassessment conducted at Sri Ramachandra Centre for Sports Science in Chennai, India, last month.
Ashraf said that they couldn鈥檛 accommodate a batting specialist, Shakib, in the squad. Though he didn鈥檛 want to mention why batter Shakib couldn鈥檛 fit into their squad.听
鈥業 don鈥檛 think it will be any good to discuss publicly on what basis a legendary cricketer was left out,鈥� said Ashraf. 鈥楤ut the players in the team are ahead of him because they are with us, and they are playing domestic cricket. That鈥檚 why we trust them.鈥櫶�
This effectively ended the international career for Shakib, as he wanted to bid farewell after playing this tournament.
Tamim Iqbal also announced his international retirement a day before the team was announced.
Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Shoriful lost his place as Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan, and Nahid Rana got the nod.听
Ashraf said that Shoriful hasn鈥檛 been fully fit from the injury he got during a league in Canada. And in the spin department, left-arm orthodox Nasum Ahmed and leg-spinner Rishad Hossain will accompany off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz.听
Bangladesh are in group A with India, New Zealand, and Pakistan. The Tigers begin their campaign with the match against India in Dubai on February 20.
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Squad
Najmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan, Nahid Rana.