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Shafiul, Rubel in Bangladesh's new-look T20 squad

Tamim Iqbal, Mustafizur Rahman, and Mosaddek Hossain were out injured, while Subashis Roy, Sunzamul Islam and Nurul Hasan were dropped from the side that toured Sri Lanka earlier this year

Mohammad Isam
Mohammad Isam
21-Oct-2017
BCB

BCB

Batsmen Mominul Haque and Liton Das, and quicks Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam have been included in Bangladesh's new-look squad for the two-match series against South Africa, starting October 26. Tamim Iqbal, Mustafizur Rahman, and Mosaddek Hossain were out injured, while Subashis Roy, Sunzamul Islam and Nurul Hasan were dropped from the side that toured Sri Lanka earlier this year.
All the fourteen selected players are currently part of the ODI squad in South Africa. Among the new inclusions, only Rubel has played T20Is this year while Nasir last represented Bangladesh in this format last year. Liton is likely to play his first T20I in nearly two years while Shafiul his first T20 in four years.
The fast bowler was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) last season with 18 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 18.38 and an economy rate of 7.78. Chief selector Minhajul Abedin, on tour in South Africa as the team manager, said Shafiul's BPL performance paved the way for his comeback and that Nasir's all-round skills will add balance to the side.
"In the last BPL, Shafiul was above all," Minhajul told ESPNcricinfo. "Mominul has replaced Tamim. He was with Test and ODI squad, so he got used to the experience [of playing in South Africa]. Rubel already has got the experience and [we picked] Nasir as we needed a batting allrounder."
Between Bangladesh's last T20I series, in April in Sri Lanka and this series, only captain Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah have played competitive T20s.
Shakib is set to begin a new stint as captain after Mashrafe Mortaza had retired from T20Is in April.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84