Bangladesh chief selector Minhajul Abedin says Shakib Al Hasan’s inclusion in the Zimbabwe tour for a Test, three ODIs and three T20Is will boost the confidence of the team. The allrounder missed the previous Test tour of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka, and he was also out of action during Bangladesh’s New Zealand tour earlier this year.

Bangladesh national team will travel to Zimbabwe on June 29, and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday announced three different squads for this tour. Left-handed allrounder Shakib made it to all these squads.

“It’s a plus point for us that we got our best player back into the setup,” Minhajul told the media in a press conference after announcing the team on Wednesday. “I believe the team will be boosted morally with this inclusion. I hope he will deliver well which eventually will help the team’s performance.”

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Bangladesh included newbie Shamim Hossain Patwary in the T20I squad. Shamim was one of Bangladesh’s main weapon during their U-19 World Cup-winning campaign in South Africa in 2020.

“We have been observing him since he came into the High-performance Unit. He did well when Ireland Wolves toured Bangladesh this year. He also did well in the matches he got a chance at afterwards. We hope his skill will help the national team do well,” Minhajul added.

Shamim played 19 List-A, 27 T20s and only First-class matches to the date. He is known as one of the best fielders who are currently playing in Bangladesh. The left-handed batsman is also capable of scoring runs quickly, and he can also be handy as a right-arm off-spin.

Left-handed top-order batsman Soumya Sarkar has been omitted from the ODI squad. Minhajul said to pave way for a left-arm spinner, they considered resting Soumya from ODIs for now.

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“The team management wanted to have a left-arm spinner in the squad. So have decided to include Taijul Islam instead of Soumya, and we also added Nurul Hasan Sohan,” Minhajul told the media.

Sohan is added to all three squads of the game for the Zimbabwe series. He has been doing tremendously well in the ongoing edition of the Bangabandhu Dhaka Premier Division Twenty20 League for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.

“His current form is enough to call him back to the national team,” Minhajul said about Sohan. “He did well in the practice sessions in Sri Lanka when he was in the primary squad. We believe he has the ability to do well for the national team.”