Selectors lean towards spin
The ODI series may still be a week away, but the makeup of Bangladesh's T20I squad already suggests that the Tigers are likely to follow a different strategy, in comparison to the team that played versus India, against South Africa.
The 14-member T20I squad has witnessed three changes from the one that played against Pakistan. Mahmudullah Riyad, Taskin Ahmed and Abul Hasan have been replaced with spinners Jubair Hossain, Shohag Gazi and pacer Rubel Hossain.
"Mahmudullah has not completely recovered from his finger injury. However, hopefully we will get him by the time the ODI series begins," chief selector Faruque Ahmed told The Daily Star. Taskin, who suffered a side strain has also been left out while Abul has been dropped.
"We have decided to include two spinners [Jubair and Shohag] considering our opponents and the place where we are playing in. The kind of bowling attack in the T20Is will depend upon the team management," said Faruque.
Talks regarding a different strategy against South Africa have been floating around ever since Bangladesh completed a series victory over India. Skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, during the post-match media briefing of the final ODI against India, had indicated that Jubair could find a spot in the limited-overs format in the South Africa series.
In the same vein, vice-captain Shakib Al Hasan in a recent interview had said that the strategy against South Africa might well be 'opposite' compared to the four-man pace attack used against India.
It therefore wasn't a surprise when the selection committee decided to recall off-spinner Shohag. The player, who had a brilliant start to his career back in 2012, lost his way ever since his action was reported. While he did correct his action, he wasn't selected for the India and Pakistan series.
Three out of the 14 players, Litton, Rony Talukdar and Jubair are yet to make their T20I debuts.
The two T20Is will take place on July 5 and 7. Prior to that, the South Africans are scheduled to play a practice match at Fatullah this Friday.
T20I SQUAD
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (captain), Tamim lqbal, Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (vice-captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Jubair Hossain, Shohag Gazi, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman.