Prominent figures like Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das made a comeback into the Bangladesh squad announced to face New Zealand in a five-match series at home. The two missed out when the Tigers created history by defeating Australia 4-1 in the five-match series in August.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the squad on Thursday, August 19. The Blackcaps are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on August 24 and all the matches of the series will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur.
A major missing in the squad is Mehedi Hasan Miraz who is considered as one of the top players of Bangladesh and represents the team in all three formats. Along with him, Tamim Iqbal, who has been advised rest by the doctors because of his elbow injury would also miss out on two series continuously.
This would also be the last international affair for Bangladesh before the T20 World Cup 2021 as their series against England, scheduled for mid-September was postponed indefinitely and the Bangladesh players will be free to participate in the Indian Premier League.
Among the new entities in the team is Aminul Islam Biplob. Biplob, the 21-year-old brings in an altogether new prospect for Bangladesh as he would be in leg memory the first leg spinner at the national level after Alok Kapali. Mohamad Mithun was unable to find a place in the squad. He has so far played seven T20Is for the team, picking up at 17.60 per wicket.
The first match is scheduled for 01 September 2021 with every game being played at 04:00 pm Bangladesh Standard Time.
SQUAD
Mahmudullah (Captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Kumar Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Afif Hossain, Naim Sheikh, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shamim Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Taijul Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Nasum Ahmed