Bangladesh have left their experienced duo of Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan out of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 squad. Bangladesh released a statement to announce the 15-member squad for next month’s highly-anticipated tournament. The high-profile axing of players comes on the back of Litton’s dry run of form. In the ODIs, the wicketkeeper batter has struggled to post a single fifty in his last 13 innings. During this run in the last seven innings, he has been dismissed for single-digit scores six times.

Shakib’s exclusion comes amid his suspension from bowling in ICC events. Due to an illegal bowling action, the 37-year-old was suspended from bowling in top-flight cricket. He recently failed the second test of independent assessment of his action.

Apart from Litton and Shakib, other notable exclusions in Bangladesh’s squad are all-rounder Afif Hossain and the pace duo of Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud.

Experienced middle-order batter Mahmudullah has retained his place in the squad. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Rishad Hossain will be the two frontline spinners for Bangladesh.

Najmul Hossain Shanto has returned to the ODI fold as the skipper of the side after missing the West Indies tour due to a hamstring injury last November. Other notable returnees in Bangladesh’s squad include Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy and Mustafizur Rahman.

The most notable inclusion in Bangladesh’s squad features Parvez Hossai Emon, who has been handed his maiden ODI call-up. The 22-year-old wicketkeeper has seven T20I outings under his belt, scoring 88 runs at an average of 12.57.

Young prodigy and pace gun Nahid Rana, who made his debut in the format in the recent series against the West Indies, has been included in the squad. In three ODI appearances, the Bangladesh tearaway has four scalps, averaging 31.50 with an economy of 4.72.

Bangladesh will face the last edition’s finalist in their campaign opener in Dubai on February 20.

Bangladesh squad for Champions Trophy: Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Parvez Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan, Nahid Rana.

Stand-in captain Litton Das has expressed his willingness to take Bangladesh’s long-term captaincy if offered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). Litton-led side clean swept West Indies 3-0 in the T20I series at Kingstown on Thursday to avenge their humiliating 3-0 drubbing in the ODI series. The opening batter stood up to take up the leadership role in the absence of the injured Najmul Hossain Shanto on the Carribean tour. Bangladesh handed Mehidy Hasan Miraz the captaincy of the ODI and Test teams, but for T20Is, the board turned to Litton, who impressed by skillfully managing his resources during the series sweep.

The BCB is reportedly seeking a long-term captain for T20Is, especially given Najmul’s form in the format. Initially, Najmul declined the captaincy role but later reconsidered after BCB president Faruque Ahmed intervened. However, his plans to lead in any format were halted due to an injury he sustained after being named captain for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan.

“As far as captaincy is concerned, if the BCB asks me to lead then I am ready to do it because there is no reason (not to) and I am enjoying it,” Litton told reporters after the win on Thursday.

“I take a lot of decisions on the field from the experience that I have got playing for so long and the skill that the bowlers developed it is easier to run the show on the field.

“As a captain, I never said that you give everything (on the field). All I said was that they (West Indies) are a better side and on their day they can destroy at their home ground and so the information was like we will go and enjoy the cricket and whatever the result we will take that with a smiling face and we will try to fulfill our responsibility,” he added.

Litton attributed the team’s success to the exceptional performance of the bowling unit, noting that their ability to take responsibility, such as setting their own fields, has made his role as captain much easier.

“Overall if I have to say our bowling attack was outstanding and the way they bowled in three formats, both the pacers and spinners. I was behind the wickets and I was feeling good as every batter was struggling,” he said.

“The thing is that if the bowlers bowl well, behind the wickets it gets easier for me and like I said the bowlers know what kind of field set-up they need so it’s easy for me.

“Look, they are a better side and I would say that and on their home ground they are a good side. But, when five bowlers bowl well and from top to bottom we have a balanced batting unit – I won’t say we have an destructive batting unit but we have a balanced side – and if we can put some runs on the board I feel the bowlers are developing their skill and every match the bowlers took responsibility on their own. They are doing their own field set-up and learning a lot of things and I feel that it is good sign,” he added.

–IANS

ab/

After three consecutive ODI defeats, Bangladesh finally returned to winning ways with a narrow 7-run victory over the West Indies in the 1st T20I at Arnos Vale Ground. The West Indies managed to make it out a nail-biting affair, courtesy of skipper Rovman Powell’s blitzkrieg, But in reality, the hosts never really recovered from the damage caused by Mahedi Hasan in the powerplay. While chasing a modest 148-run total, the Caribbean side faced problems as Mahedi made early inroads through their batting lineup.

The West Indies had already lost Brandon King before Mahedi was introduced to bowl in the powerplay. In his second delivery of the match, Mahedi caught the big fish, Nicholas Pooran. He invited him to step out of the crease to have a go at him. Pooran shimmered down the crease, went for a swing and missed the ball, which held a straight trajectory. The explosive batter was well short of the crease as Litton gathered the ball and dislodged the bails in a jiffy.

West Indies found reprieve in the next over with Johnson Charles going berserk against Tanzim Hasan Sakib. He tonked two sixes and followed it up with a crisp four to accumulate 25 runs from the over.

But the impending end from Mahedi ended Charles’ deal with the boundaries. The opener took the aerial route, but the desired elevation was something that was missed dearly. The ball landed in Hasan Mahmud’s hands at mid-off.

With the West Indies tottering at run-a-ball 36 and three wickets down after the first six overs, Mahedi dealt a massive blow to make their chase a lost cause.

He delivered a match-defining over to remove Andre Fletcher for a four-ball duck and then Roston Chase for 7(13). With the West Indies looking down and out at 39/5, Powell knew his side needed something special from him.

Powell kept the hopes alive with Romario Shepherd playing the second fiddle to his skipper. The duo paced their knocks according to the situation and brought down the equation to 20 needed in 18 balls.

With victory once again in sight, Bangladesh pacers held their nerves to see off the game. Taskin Ahmed removed Shepherd (22), but Powell’s threat continued to loom in the atmosphere.

In the final over, Hasan Mahmud had 10 runs to defend while facing Powell. Mahmud bowled it wide, and Powell went for a flashy drive. He only found an outside edge, which was taken by the wicketkeeper. Mahmud castled Alzarri Joseph to seal a 7-run victory for Bangladesh.

Earlier in the match, after being put to bat by the hosts, Bangladesh needed moments of individual brilliance to find their way to 147/6. Soumya Sarkar played a blistering knock of 43(32), while Jaker Ali (27), Mahedi (26*) and Shamim Hossain (27) made invaluable contributions towards the end, which took the visitors to a fighting total.

Afghanistan vs Bangladesh Live Scorecard 2nd ODI© X/@ACB

Afghanistan vs Bangladesh Live Score Updates 1st ODI© AFP

Bangladesh vs South Africa 2nd Test Day 2, Live Score Updates© AFP

BAN vs SA Live Streaming 2nd Test Live Telecast© AFP