Dhaka, Sep 2 (IANS) Bangladesh have recalled Najmul Hossain Shanto and fast bowler Hasan Mahmud to their T20I squad for the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, while Litton Das returns to lead the 15-man side following a hamstring injury.
Litton missed Bangladesh’s recent T20I series against Zimbabwe and Australia due to the injury. But he’s now back to resume captaincy duties ahead of the multi-sport event, which begins on September 17 in the Aichi-Nagoya region.
Shanto makes his return to the shortest format after featuring against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May last year. The top-order batter endured a lean T20 run of 19 innings without a half-century, which resulted in him losing the captaincy to Litton.
Shanto, though, recently spearheaded Bangladesh to a historic first Test victory in Australia, where he scored a half-century in Darwin. He also compiled 355 runs, including a century and a fifty, during the last Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) season.
Pacer Hasan Mahmud also returns to the national T20 setup after playing during the Pakistan tour last year, where he managed three wickets across three matches at an economy rate of 11.30. Mahmud was named Player of the Match alongside Shanto in the Darwin Test win and claimed 10 wickets at an average of 24.67 in the last BPL.
Wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan and Abdul Gaffar Saqlain have been dropped from the squad, while fast bowler Nahid Rana misses out as he continues to recover from a side strain.
Bangladesh enter the tournament as direct quarterfinalists alongside India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and hosts Japan. The team will open its campaign in the quarterfinals on September 28 against the winner of Group B, with all cricket fixtures scheduled to take place at the Korogi Sports Park.
The side will be aiming to build on their performance from the previous edition of the Asian Games, where they earned a bronze medal behind silver-medallists Sri Lanka and gold medal winners India.
Bangladesh squad: Litton Das (captain), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tawhid Hridoy, Mosaddek Hossain, Yasir Ali, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud.
–IANS
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