Bangladesh name Asia Cup squad; Shakib Al Hasan returns as captain

Dhaka: Bangladesh named a 17-member squad for the Asia Cup starting later this month while also announcing their captain for the tournament as well as the T20 World Cup later this year.

Shakib Al Hasan returns as the captain of the Bangladesh T20 side and has been named the skipper at least until the T20 World Cup later this year. His first assignment in his fresh stint as captain begins with the Asia Cup, starting on 27 August.

Nurul Hasan was named the captain for the recent tour of Zimbabwe after Mahmud Ullah was removed as captain due to lack of results. However, Shakib Al Hasan – who was already named the Test skipper after Mominul Haque stepped down – is set to take the reins of the team for the upcoming Asia Cup, the tri-series in New Zealand that also involves Pakistan and the T20 World Cup.

Bangladesh also named the squad for the T20 Asia Cup. Litton Das was the most notable omission with injury ruling him out of the tournament. But the squad will be boosted with the return of several key players including captain Shakib, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Ebadat Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin.

Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmud Ullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ebadot Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Taskin Ahmed.

Saifuddin returns to the Bangladesh squad after an absence of close to 10 months. He last featured for the Tigers in the T20 World Cup last year where his tournament was cut short after being ruled out due to a back injury. Out-of-favour Rahman too finds a place in the squad having last appeared for Bangladesh in the shortest format in 2019.

Bangladesh find themselves in Group B in the Asia Cup pitted against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.

Their campaign begins on August 30 with the game against Afghanistan before they take on the Islanders on September 1. (UNI)