Shakib Al Hasan gets ruled out, Litton Das to lead Bangladesh in Afghanistan Test

Senior batter and stumper Litton Das will be leading Bangladesh in the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan, which is slated to begin on June 14. Notably, the regular skipper Shakib Al Hasan has been ruled out of the match due to a finger injury that he suffered during the ODI series against Ireland, last month, as his return date is not yet confirmed. 

Meanwhile, 21-year-old Shahadat Hossain and 20-year-old Musfik Hasan have been named in the 15-member squad. Notably, right-arm pacer Musfik has picked up 38 wickets in 13 matches in first-class cricket and trained under Allan Donald previously. He was terrific against India A and West Indies A in recent times and thus, can prove to be a talented cricketer in the future.

Shahadat meanwhile has 1265 runs to his name in 20 first-class matches so far. He was a member of the Bangladesh side that won the Under-19 World Cup in 2020 and ever since, the middle order batter has made tons of runs in domestic cricket. He recently hit two half-centuries against West Indies A.

Thus, both cricketers have shown a lot of promise in the recent past and because of the same, the selectors have awarded them with a maiden national call-up.

Pacer Taskin Ahmed makes a comeback from his injury

On the other hand, ace pacer Taskin Ahmed has made his return to the squad. The cricketer missed the Ireland series due to a side strain but is now fully fit to take on Afghanistan. Zakir Hasan, who suffered a thumb injury in March has also been called up by the team management.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan will be arriving in Bangladesh in two phases: the first involving the Test squad and the second involving the white-ball squad. Notably, the Test will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka, while the ODI series will be played in Chattogram, and the two-match T20I series will be played in Sylhet.

Bangladesh Test squad: Litton Das (c), Tamim Iqbal, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shahadat Hossain, Musfik Hasan.