With over two weeks to go before the only Test against Afghanistan in Dhaka, the Bangladesh team began their preparation on Monday in Mirpur. For now, a 26-member preliminary squad participated in the camp, but the squad for the Test has not yet been announced.
Shakib Al Hasan, the regular Test captain of Bangladesh, will not be playing in this Test due to an injury. In his absence, Litton Das, Shakib's deputy, is expected to lead Bangladesh against Afghanistan.
Earlier, Nazmul Hasan, the President of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), stated that Mahmudullah Riyad may be included in the Bangladesh World Cup team, but he is not part of the preliminary camp.
However, Cricket Operation Chairman of BCB, Jalal Yunus, confirmed that Mahmudullah has been granted leave to perform the holy Hajj and will not be available for the ODI series against Afghanistan. Yunus also said that Mahmudullah might find a place in the World Cup team despite not being a regular in the national team in recent times.
"We have a 26-man team now for this camp, but five of them are with the Bangladesh A team in Sylhet," Nafis Iqbal, the manager of the Bangladesh team, told the media on Monday. "They areexpected to join the team after the Bangladesh A team's match, which ends on June 3," he added.
The all-rounder was left out of the last ODI series at home against Ireland and was not part of the Bangladesh team in the last series in England as well.
After the Test against Afghanistan in June, Bangladesh will play a three-match ODI and three-match T20I series against them in July. Bangladesh has a tight schedule in the latter part of the year with an Asia Cup and World Cup. While the World Cup is scheduled in India, the venue for the Asia Cup is yet to be announced.