Also, Mahmudullah Riyad was not considered for the Test squad.

Minhajul Abedin, the chief selector of BCB, said it was a collective decision of the selectors to put Mashrafe off for this series. “It was a tough move for us, but there was no other option.”

In the first phase of the competition, both teams will lock horns in a three-match ODI series while in the second phase, they will play a two-match Test series.

The first two ODIs of the series will take place in Dhaka on January 20 and 22 while the third one will be played in Chattogram on January 25.

The first Test will take place in Chattogram from February 3 while the second and final one will be played in Dhaka from February 11.

“Mashrafe has done a lot for the national team. We respect him. But at the end of the day, we had to face the reality and overlook him,” Minhajul said.

The chief selector also said he had a long conversation with Mashrafe before making the final decision to not include him in the team. “There is no chance of a miscommunication between the selectors and Mashrafe.”

The country’s highest wicket-taker in ODIs and longest-serving captain Mashrafe played his last ODI in March against Zimbabwe in Sylhet.

Next, he stepped down as the ODI captain of Bangladesh but announced himself available for selection.

Also read: No scope for Mashrafe to return, hints BCB chief

“There were many options that we had to weigh up before making the final call on Mashrafe. We had to consider the team management’s plan and needed to think about the future of Bangladesh cricket as well,” Minhajul said.

Six uncapped players – Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nasum Ahmed, Parvez Hossain Emon and Mahedi Hasan – made it to the 24-member preliminary ODI squad.

Two of them – Yasir and Hasan – also featured in the 20-member Test squad.

Shoriful and Hasan Mahmud of Bangladesh’s Under-19 World Cup-winning squad are new faces in the ODI team.

Hasan drew attention with his right-arm fast bowling over the last two years while Shoriful is a left-arm pacer.

The right-arm fast bowler already played a T20 against Pakistan while Shoriful was one of Bangladesh’s key players in the country’s ICC U-19 World Cup triumph in South Africa last year.

Among the chaos of Mashrafe’s omission, Shakib Al Hasan returned to the Bangladesh squad after serving a one-year ban imposed by the ICC. The star all-rounder will play both ODIs and Tests.

Also read: Shakib: It’ll be tough to repeat old form

 “We have not played any international match in the last 10 months. So, we have to begin everything from scratch. Our main focus is the 2023 World Cup and the ongoing Test championship. We hope to play a good international series,” Minhajul said.

Bangladesh’s preliminary ODI team

Tamim Iqbal (captain), Momimul Haque, Taskin Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mustafizur Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Mohammad Mithun, Taijul Islam, Liton Das, Nurul Hasan, Yasir Ali, Shadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Nayeem Hasan, Abu Jayed and Ebadot Hossain

Test squad

Momimul Haque, Taskin Ahmed, Tamim Iqbal, Khaled Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mustafizur Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Mohammad Mithun, Taijul Islam, Liton Das, Nurul Hasan, Yasir Ali, Shadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Nayeem Hasan, Abu Jayed and Ebadot Hossain.