No Fizz as BCB announces squad for Afghanistan Test

Bangladesh left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman was not included in the 15-member squad that Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced today for the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan, starting from September 5 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram.

"Mustafizur has a light injury. Since we have only one Test match, we did not want to take any risk. Moreover, we have many matches coming. This is why we rested him," chief selector Minhajul Abedin told reporters today.

After pacer Taskin Ahmed was left-out of the Test squad for the New Zealand series in February this year, right-arm pacer Shafiul Islam and Ebadot Hossain were included in the Tigers' Test squad as Taskin's replacement. Shafiul, who did not play a single match in that New Zealand tour, was not even included in the squad this time. However, Ebadot retained his place in the squad.

Left-arm opener Soumya Sarkar also retained his place in the squad as he is expected to partner up with Shadman Islam at the top in absence of Tamim Iqbal, who has been granted a rest from the series. Having missed the New Zealand tour due to injury, skipper Shakib Al Hasan was back into the side while all-rounder Mosaddek Hossain, who last played in the longer format during the home Test series against Sri Lanka, was also included in the squad.

Opener Tamim Iqbal had already asked for a break from the series while paceman Khaled Ahmed was excluded due to an injury.

Bangladesh Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (Cap), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Kumar, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Abu Jayed, Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain.