BAN vs ZIM T20I: In a bit of a shock for Bangladesh’s senior men’s T20I side, veteran all-rounder Shakib al Hasan is unlikely to make appearances in all of the five scheduled T20I games against Zimbabwe. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said in a report that, though there are chances that Shakib al Hasan could potentially play some games in the BAN vs ZIM T20I series, however, there is no certainty in it.
Bangladesh on Tuesday, April 23 announced its 17-men preparatory squad ahead of the T20I series against Zimbabwe. The two major exclusions in the squad were Shakib al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman.
While Mustafizur Rahman, who is currently plying his trade in the TATA IPL 2024 for Chennai Super Kings, will be available after May 2, Shakib al Hasan is expected to return from the USA at the end of this month.
Shakib, upon returning, will play a few matches in the Dhaka Premier League for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Cricket Club. The cricketer wished to play three domestic matches in order to be fully available for national duties, said the BCB chief Gazi Ashraf Hossain.
“We have communicated with him (Shakib) and the outcome is that he is expected to come at the end of this month and there is a possibility he will play DPL in one or two games and later will get involved with the team management and there he can do some practice over cricketing skill as per the desire of team management and him. Later definitely we will want him to play a couple of games at the end in the five-match T20I series,” Ashraf said.
Notably, the recently announced Bangladesh squad is a preparatory one, the actual squad for the T20I series against Zimbabwe will be announced on April 28.
Mustafizur, on the other side, will be returning for his national duties on May 2, after playing out his IPL franchise’s game against Punjab Kings (PBKS). He will fly directly home post the fixture to take part in the BAN vs ZIM T20I series.
The pacer will, however, miss the first game due to workload management.
The three-day preparatory camp for Bangladesh begins on April 26 in Chattogram.
Interestingly, Bangladesh have also included Soumya Sarkar in the list of 17 players who will be a part of the training camp, though, he is yet to completely recover from a knee injury. The batter suffered a knee injury as he slammed himself into the advertising board during the third ODI against Sri Lanka, which concluded last month.
BAN vs ZIM T20I Preparatory Squad
Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali Anik, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Parvez Hossain Emon, Tanvir Islam, Afif Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Mohammad Saifuddin and Soumya Sarkar
BAN vs ZIM T20I Schedule
The five-game T20I series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe is set to begin on Friday, May 03 in Chattogram. The action of the first three battles will be held at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chattogram, following which the teams will head to Dhaka for the remaining two games.
- 1st T20I – May 03 – Chattogram
- 2nd T20I – May 05 – Chattogram
- 3rd T20I – May 07 – Chattogram
- 4th T20I – May 10 – Dhaka
- 5th T20I – May 12 – Dhaka
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