Shakib al Hasan named in Bangladesh's squad for the series against Sri Lanka

Bangladesh Cricket Board has named a 15-man squad for the first two games of a 3-match ODI series at home against Sri Lanka. All three ODIs are scheduled to be played between May 23 and 28, at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal is going to lead the limited-overs team. Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will return to the side for the first time since the Tests against West Indies. During the test series, he sustained a thigh strain and was ruled out. After that, he did not feature in Bangladesh's tour of New Zealand in March. 

Kushal Perera has been announced as the captain of the Sri Lanka team

Shakib Al Hasan also represented Kolkata knight Riders in the now-suspended Indian Premier League. However, the all-rounder only featured in three matches for KKR. He could only score 26 runs in those games and picked up 2 wickets before he was dropped to the bench. The 14th season of the IPL was suspended due to positive Covid-19 cases in the bio-bubbles of franchises. All the Bangladesh players who were playing in the IPL had returned home following the suspension.

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur is also included in the 15-man squad for the first 2 ODIs. Sri Lanka is now the 2nd team to tour Bangladesh after the West Indies team earlier this year. The entire team of Sri Lanka arrived in Bangladesh on May 16. The players are going to play an intra-squad match before the first ODI on Sunday. Kushal Perera has been announced as the captain of the Sri Lanka team. However, the team will also miss the services of senior players like Angelo Matthews.

After the conclusion of the ODI games on May 28, the Sri Lankan squad will depart the next day. The forthcoming series against Sri Lanka will be Bangladesh's third ODI series of the ICC's World Cup qualifying campaign. Bangladesh is currently in the sixth spot after defeating West Indies 3-0 at home in January. Sri Lanka and Bangladesh recently faced each other in a two-match Test series, which was won by the Island nation. Sri Lanka had vanquished Bangladesh by 209 runs in the second Test, while the first match ended in a draw.

Bangladesh squad

Tamim Iqbal (Captain), Shakib al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Md Mithun, Liton Kumar Das, Mahedi Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Md Shaif Uddin, Taskin Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Shoriful Islam.

READ MORE Cricket articles here!