Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the senior men's squad for the first Test match against Sri Lanka on Monday. The former captain and struggling batter Litton Das has been included in the strong 15-member squad after missing the last Test series due to personal reasons.
Litton was recently dropped from the third ODI game against Sri Lanka after a string of poor performances. But the wicketkeeper batter holds a regular place in the red-ball team having played 39 Tests since his debut in 2015. He has scored 2394 Test runs at an average of 36.27 with three centuries but is struggling for consistency lately.
This will be the first Test assignment for the new captain Najmul Shanto, who replaced Litton as skipper across all three formats this year. Experienced wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan has been dropped from the team who kept wickets against New Zealand in November-December last year.
Bangladesh have also included uncapped fast bowlers Nahid Rana and Mushfik Hasan in the Test team for the first time.
“Rana is a very exciting prospect. He is probably the quickest bowler in Bangladesh at the moment and can also extract steep bounce," Abdur Razzak, BCC national selector said. "Although these are early days for him, his first-class record is quite impressive. There is another young pacer Mushfik Hasan in the squad. This is the right time for these pacers to get the experience as Ebadot (Hossain) is out injured and Taskin (Ahmed) is also not playing Tests at the moment.”
Bangladesh squad for first Test against Sri Lanka: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Zakir Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shadman Islam, Litton Kumer Das, Mominul Haque Showrab, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Mushfik Hasan, Nahid Rana.
Bangladesh play two Tests against their rivals starting at Sylhet International Stadium on March 22.
