KABUL: Afghanistan on Monday dropped four players from the Twenty20 squad which won just two of their five matches at last year’s World Cup for their tour of Bangladesh later this month.

Maverick opener Mohammad Shahzad, pacers Gulbadin Naib and Hamid Hassan, and batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi were the quartet omitted from the T20 squad.

They also shuffled the ODI squad for a three-match series also in Bangladesh.

Sharafuddin Ashraf and Usman Ghani are left out having been part of the ODI squad that beat the Netherlands 3-0 in Doha last month, while Ibrahim Zadran is called up.

Pacer Naveen-ul-Haq is not available for the full tour.

The three ODIs will be played on Feb 23, 25 and 28 — all in Chittagong — while the T20Is are scheduled for March 3 and 5 in Dhaka.

Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead the ODI squad and Mohammad Nabi is named as skipper for T20Is.

BD PICK EBADOT FOR ODIs

Meanwhile, pace bowler Ebadot Hossain was among four uncapped players Bangladesh included in their 15-men squad for the ODI series against Afghanistan.

Ebadot has played 12 Tests for Bangladesh so far but is yet to play any limited-over internationals.

He impressed during the recent New Zealand tour, helping Bangladesh record a fairytale win in the first Test at Mount Maunganui with a match haul of seven wickets.

“Ebadot is a Test bowler but he has been impressive with the white-ball recently. He has worked hard on his control, which is why we have considered him,” said Bangladeshi chief selector Minhajul Abedin.

Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, batsmen Yasir Ali and Mahmudul Hasan were the other uncapped players to be called up for the series while batsman Najmul Hossain was recalled for the series.

Mohammad Naim, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Nurul Hasan and Mohammad Mithun, who are part of the Bangladesh squad for their last ODI series in July against Zimbabwe, were not included.

Squads:

Afghanistan:

ODI: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmat Shah, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Shahid Kamal, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Azmat Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Yamin Ahmadzai, Farid Ahmad Malik Travelling; Reserves: Qais Ahmad, Salim Safi

T20: Mohammad Nabi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Darwish Rasooli, Najibullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Azmat Omarzai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Qais Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Nijat Masood, Farid Ahmad Malik.

Bangladesh:

ODI: Tamim Iqbal (captain), Liton Das, Najmul Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Mahmudul Hasan.

Published in Dawn, February 15th, 2022