Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) surprised all to announce a 15-man Tigers squad for the first T20 International of the two-match T20I series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka yesterday.

T20 captain Shakib Al Hasan, who has returned to the fold from his finger injury-layoff, will lead Bangladesh in the upcoming T20I series.

The board included the highest number of five uncapped players including Zakir Hasan, Afif Hossain, Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi, Ariful Haque and Mehedi Hasan in their squad for the first time.

The bulk of the rookie players were in the discussion and under the radar of the BCB selection panel for the jaw-dropping performance in the concluded fifth edition of the Bangladesh Premier League.

Fast bowler Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi and Ariful Haque among the rookies drew the attention of all through showcasing their brilliances with cherry and willow for the Khulna Titans, who ended their BPL mission from Eliminator phase.

For them, Rahi picked up 18 wickets from 12-match road string of the country’s premier Twenty20 tournament with the best figures of 4-35. Along with that, Haque played at No 6/7 position and finished the innings for Titans. He scored 237 off 12 matches with the best figures of unbeaten 43.

Promising youngster Afif Hossain Dhubo has been playing top-level cricket at the age of 19 and made a good trait of his dexterity that clouted the selectors to provide him an opportunity for international game. Mehedi Hasan and Zakir Hasan also proved their eligibility of the selection through their domestic performances.      

Apart from them, batsman Soumya Sarkar made a return of the shorter format of game after being dropped out of the back-to-back Bangladesh-Sri Lanka-Zimbabwe Tri-nation and Test series against Sri Lanka due to his off-form.  

Paceman Abu Haider Rony was also recalled by the board after a two-year- long lull. Rony had last played for Bangladesh against Oman at Dharamshala in Himachal, India in March 2016. 

A total of seven players such as Imrul Kayes, Liton Kumar Das, Taskin Ahmed, Mehedi Hasan Miraj, Mominul Haque, Shafiul Islam and Nasir Hossain who were in South Africa tour, dropped out of the T20 squad.

The two-match Twenty20 International series will be a day-night affairs, starting on February 15. The first of which will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in Mirpur, while the second and last of the T20 series will be held at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium (SICS) on February 18.  

Bangladesh T20 squad: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarker, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Abu Haider Rony, Abu Jahed Rahi, Ariful Haque, Mehedi Hasan, Zakir Hasan and Afif Hossain.