Shakib al Hasan would be making a comeback to the national side as the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced the squad for the first two ODIs of the Sri Lanka series beginning May 23. Having missed the last Test of the West Indies series at home and then the rest of the Bangladesh assignment including the New Zealand and Sri Lanka tours, this would be Hasan’s second major appearance after the end of his ICC imposed one-year ban post the ODI World Cup in 2019.
Najmul Hossain Shanto the centurion from the first Hambantota Test on the Sri Lanka tour is a notable miss from the ODI squad that played in New Zealand in March this year. Tamim Iqbal remains the skipper of the side and youngsters Shoriful Islam and Mahedi Hasan have also retained their spots.
Along with Shoriful, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin and coming on the back of a successful IPL stint, Mustafizur Rahman is the four pacers in the squad while the sin department would have the likes of Miraz, Mahedi and Mosaddek Hossain sharing the ball with all-round options of Shakib, Afif Hossain and Mahmudullah.
All three matches would be played at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Dhaka in empty stands due to Covid-19 second wave hit in the subcontinent.