A 21-member Bangladesh preliminary test cricket team will fly for Sri Lanka Monday noon to play a two- match test series against the Island nation.
Earlier, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the 21-member preliminary squad including three new faces.
After reaching Sri Lanka, the Bangladesh team will go to Negombo for a three-day room quarantine from Apr 12-14.
The final squad for the two-match Test series will be announced after the preliminary team reaches Sri Lanka and plays an intra-squad practice game scheduled for April 17-18.
Due to the current Covid-19 situation, Bangladesh team will have to play practice match among themselves and for that reason, the BCB has decided carry all the 21 cricketers to Sri Lanka.
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A large 41- member Bangladesh team including cricketers, coaches, supporting staff, newly appointed Deputy Manager of BCB Cricket Operations and former national opener Shahriar Nafees and other BCB officials will fly for Sri Lanka through a chartered flight of Bangladesh Biman.
The series will begin on April 21 with the first Test, and the second and final Test will start on April 29, both will be played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
For the two- match series, BCB included three uncapped pace-bowlers --Shohidul Islam, Shoriful Islam and Mukidul Islam Mugdho-- while old guy Shuvagata Hom made a surprise comeback to the Test set-up after a gap of four years.
“We have decided to take the preliminary squad to Sri Lanka as it would help our preparation and also give exposure to a number of players who are in our thinking for the longer version going forward,” chief selector Minhajul Abedin said in a statement during the time of team announcement.
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“They (pace-bowlers) have been in our HP set up and have impressed in whichever version they have played in. Mukidul and Shohidul in particular, have caught the eye in domestic First-class this season and are future Test prospects. They all have age on their side and are talented,” he added.
In the two rounds of the National Cricket League (NCL), which is currently on hold due to Covid-19 surge, Mukidul bagged 13 wickets with two five-wicket hauls while Shohidul took six wickets. Shoriful missed the NCL’s first two rounds as he has in New Zealand with the national team.
“Shuvagata is coming back after a while but he has been a consistent performer in First-class cricket. We have considered him as a batting all-rounder but his off-break bowling is pretty handy also and gives us an option in the spin department,” he also said about the inclusion of Shuvagata. In NCL, Shuvagata bagged seven wickets and scored 163 runs with a century.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan Sohan also made a comeback to the Bangladesh Test setup. He played his last Test in 2018 during Bangladesh’s West Indies tour.
The 21-member preliminary Test team of Bangladesh for the Sri Lanka tour:
Mominul Haque (Captain) , Litton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed Rahi, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Shuvagata Hom, Shohidul Islam and Nurul Hasan Sohan