Bangladesh have opted to retain the squad that played the Test
series against South Africa for the upcoming first Test against
Australia.
The squad also includes left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, who has recovered from a bout of jaundice which he suffered last month.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced the squad despite the
uncertainty surrounding the series. Last week, Cricket Australia chose
to delay the team's scheduled departure on September 28 due to increased
security concerns. CA's chief executive, James Sutherland, cited
"recent advice from a range of Australian government sources" that
identified potential security risks to Australian interests in
Bangladesh.
CA's decision to proceed with the Test series will depend on the
outcome of meetings between its security chief Sean Carroll and
government and police officials in Bangladesh. It is learnt that
security officials who met with Carroll assured fool-proof security for
the team and the BCB is also quietly confident of sharing more detailed
information that can help ease CA's concerns.
According to the current schedule, the first Test is scheduled
between October 9 and 13 in Chittagong, while the second Test will be
played in Mirpur from October 17. Australia are also scheduled to play a
three-day tour match against the BCB XI in Fatullah before the start of
the Test series.
Bangladesh squad for the first Test: Mushfiqur Rahim
(capt), Tamim Iqbal (vice-capt), Imrul Kayes, Jubair Hossain, Liton
Das, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Shahid, Mominul Haque, Mustafizur Rahman,
Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul
Islam
