Pacer Nahid Rana received his maiden call-up as Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced a 15-member squad for the first of the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting on Friday at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium in Sylhet.
Known for being one of the quickest bowlers in the national circuit 21-year-old Rana has taken 63 wickets from 15 matches since making his first-class debut in November 2021.
Batter Liton Das returned to the side after missing the last Test series. He got dropped from the ODI squad after failing to open his account in the first two matches.
The second match begins on 30 March at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram. The Tests are a part of the 2023-25 ICC World Test Championship cycle.
“We feel that the squad picked for the first Test has a very nice balance. Our Test side is a fairly settled one with Nahid Rana being the only newcomer. Liton (Das) is back after missing the last Test series we played as he was on leave. All the departments have backups and have been well covered. I think we have a team that can adapt to the requirements of the conditions,” selector Abdur Razzak said.
“Rana is a very exciting prospect. He is probably the quickest bowler in Bangladesh at the moment and can also extract steep bounce. Although these are early days for him, his first-class record is quite impressive. There is another young pacer Mushfik Hasan in the squad. This is the right time for these pacers to get the experience as Ebadot (Hossain) is out injured and Taskin (Ahmed) is also not playing Tests at the moment.”
“We have a stable Test squad now. Litton’s return bolsters the batting as he has the experience and we trust his ability. We also want to back players like Shahadat Hossain Dipu who we think is a batsman for the future,” he added.
SQUAD:
Najmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Zakir Hasan, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shadman Islam, Liton Das, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Mehedi Hassan Miraz, Nayeem Hasan, Taijul Islam, Shoriful Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Mushfik Hasan, Nahid Rana
