Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the Test squad on Wednesday for the one-off Test match against India which is set to start from 10 June in Fatullah.
There hasn't been much alterations to the squad which played Pakistan recently. BCB have made only one change, as they brought back Rubel Hossain in place of Shahadat Hossain.
Rubel picked up a Grade 1 left-side strain while he was bowling against Pakistan during the first Test. He was then replaced by Shahadat. Shahadat twisted his knee during the second Test against Pakistan and was ruled out for six months. But now, as Rubel Hossain has recovered from his injury, the fast bowler makes a return to the Bangladesh Test squad.
Bangla Tigers Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim too suffered an injury during the Test series against Pakistan. While his injury is thought to be minor, Bangladesh have kept a back-up wicketkeeper in the squad in 20-year-old Litton Das, who could make his debut.
"We have seven days before the first Test," BCB chief selector Faruque Ahmed was quoted as saying ESPNCricinfo. "I won't say that Mushfiqur won't play but it was important to keep a backup. We prefer having a second wicketkeeper-batsman. Litton Das was in the squad for the Pakistan series.
"The cricket operations committee asked us to take 14 players. We planned to take 13 but there is no domestic cricket at the moment, so it was thought that one boy can stay with the team."
Bangladesh have also retained young leg-spinner Jubair Hossain on the recommendations from the captain Mushfiqur and coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
"We select the team after discussing with the team management. The coach and captain had made a strong recommendation about him. They have a plan with him. We have included him as a result. I don't know if they [captain and coach] went to him [BCB president] or not. We had a meeting three-four days before the team was announced," Ahmed added.
Faruque Ahmed also admitted the fact that their main strength will be their batting against India and their current bowlers may not be well-equipped to pick up all 20 wickets against India. But still they have picked seven batsmen instead of eight for this one-off Test match against the visiting neighbours.
Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Abul Hasan, Imrul Kayes, Jubair Hossain, Litton Das, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Shahid, Mominul Haque, Rubel Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Shuvagata Hom, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam.
