BCB announces 22-man squad for preparation camp in Australia and tour of New Zealand

Apparently inspired by the incredible success of Mehedi Hasan Miraz, the selectors have called up his under-19 deputy Nazmul Hossain Shanto in their provisional squad for the New Zealand tour.

Talismanic pacer Mustafizur Rahman, who is going through rehabilitation after a surgery on his shoulder in August, also returned after missing out on the England series.

Mustafizur suffered his injury playing for Sussex last season. His last international appearance was in the World Twenty20 in India in March.

The selectors drew Shanto, a top-order batsman, from the under-19 team after reaping the rewards of blooding in Miraz against England in the form a historic Test win last week.

The 19-year-old spinner starred in the last of two matches where he grabbed 12 wickets to stack a staggering 19-wicket tally from the series and was named the best player of the series.

Legspinning allrounder Tanveer and seamer Ebadat Hossain, who emerged from the pacer hunt programme, are the other new faces in the 22-men squad.

After going through phases of not breaking into the playing eleven despite being in the squad, Nasir Hossain this time was left out of the preliminary squad, along with Rubel Hossain, Al-Amin Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Mosharraf Hossain.

All of them were posted among nine standbys while Rabbi was the only player from the squad against England to be dropped from the list. Paceman Subashis Roy, however, retained his spot despite not playing against England.

Shanto, the vice-captain of Bangladesh’s latest under-19 team, has the most runs in Youth ODIs. He also had a decent start in his first-class career, scoring two centuries on way to 755 runs in 12 matches at 37.75.

Tanveer has been playing domestic cricket for some time. He scored six centuries for 2209 runs from 47 first-class matches at 34.52. He took 84 wickets with his legbreak. He turned heads with a four-for against England in a warm-up match before the Tests.

Pacer Mohammad Shahid was recalled to the squad after he missed the England series due to injury.

The squad will fly to Australia in two contingents on Dec 9 and 10 after the Bangladesh Premier League final. They will train and play matches in Sydney during a 10-day camp, before leaving for New Zealand for three ODIs, three T20s and two Tests in December and January.

Preliminary squad:

Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Soumya Sarkar, Mosaddek Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Subashis Roy, Mohammad Shahid, Ebadat Hossain, Tanveer Haider.