Bangladesh recall Mosaddek Hossain for Afghanistan T20I series; Taskin Ahmed, Imrul Kayes dropped

Dhaka: Bangladesh on Sunday recalled batsman Mosaddek Hossain in their 15-man squad for the three-match Twenty20 matches against Afghanistan in India next month.

Mosaddek, who has not played T20 international cricket for more than a year, replaces batsman Imrul Kayes for Bangladesh’s first-ever bilateral series against Afghanistan in the shortest format.

“Mosaddek is a very talented player. He had a bad patch in the middle but we included him after consulting with the coach about his fitness,” said chief selector Minhajul Abedin.

Selectors also had “injury concerns” about Mehedi Hasan and felt Mosaddek’s spin bowling could prove useful.

Pace bowler Taskin Ahmed and wicketkeeper Nurul Hasan, both part of an extended Bangladesh squad in their last T20 engagement in Sri Lanka, have been dropped.

Afghanistan will host Bangladesh for the inaugural series in the Indian city of Dehradun from 3 to 7 June.

It is something of a warm-up for Afghanistan as they prepare for their first-ever Test against India in Bangalore from 14 to 18 June.

Afghanistan are ranked eighth in Twenty20 internationals, two places ahead of Bangladesh.

Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad (vice-capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Ariful Haque, Mehedi Hasan, Nazmul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Hider, Rubel Hossain and Abu Jayed.