Bangladesh will be without the services of veterans Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das for their upcoming three-ODI series against Afghanistan even as the selectors decided to retain Najmul Hossain Shanto as captain of the 15-member squad, with Mehidy Hasan Miraz acting as his deputy.
Shakib Al Hasan, who has served Bangladesh cricket for a little less than two decades, may not be able to fulfil his desire of ending his Test career against South Africa in Mirpur after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced that they cannot guarantee him security on his return.
“Its my desire to play my last Test match in Mirpur. If that doesn't happen, then this will be my last match,” Shakib said in the pre-match conference, where he also revealed that the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean was his final appearance for Bangladesh in the shortest format.
Dispelling doubts over Shakib Al Hasan’s availability for the second Test against India, starting on Friday in Kanpur, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe on Wednesday confirmed that the star all-rounder is “eligible for selection”.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said on Monday that they will take a call on Shakib’s availability for the Kanpur Test following a medical assessment.
Seasoned all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan termed Bangladesh’s series loss to relatively lesser-known USA team as a “wake-up call” in the lead-up to the ICC men’s T20 World Cup, starting June 1 in the West Indies and the USA.
The veteran all-rounder suffered a left quad injury in their last outing against New Zealand and remains a doubtful starter for Bangladesh’s next fixture.
The visitors don't have room for complacency and will look to dominate Bangladesh in Dhaka. While India ticked most boxes, the team will hope to see valuable knocks from stand-in captain KL Rahul and batter Virat Kohli.
Bangladesh are now expecting some charisma from their star all rounder Shakib Al Hasan who’s still standing on the crease.
The majority of the team's members were selected for the T20 World Cup in October.
