Shakib, Sohan in Bangladesh squads for all formats for Zimbabwe tour

The Tigers’ ace in the hole Shakib Al Hasan has returned to the fold for all three formats of the game for Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe in July.

Shamim Hossain, a 20-year-old allrounder, was handed a maiden call-up in the T20 squad and is the only new face in the multi-format touring party announced on Wednesday.

The squad is set to fly to the southern African nation on the night of Jun 28 for a one-off Test and three one-dayers and T20Is apiece.

Maverick batsman Soumya Sarkar, however, fell away from the 50-over games and was included in the squad for the 20-over face-offs. Left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman was picked for the limited-overs games only while Nazmul Hossain Shanto grabbed a spot in the Test squad.

Bangladesh played their last Test during their tour of Sri Lanka in April-May this year. Mohammad Mithun, who featured in the second Test in that series, has been dropped from the illustrious format for this series.

Along with Shakib and Sohan -- a wicketkeeper -- Bangladesh called up offspinner Nayeem Hasan for the Test.

Shakib was not part of the team that toured Sri Lanka due to his decision to stick with the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League.

Sohan’s last Test cap dates back to 2018 on the West Indies tour. He played his last ODI against New Zealand in December 2016.

Offspinning allrounder Mehedi Hasan was dropped from the ODI squad along with Soumya while Taijul Islam and Rubel Hossain made the cut.

Right-arm seamer Rubel was left out of the latest ODIs against Sri Lanka at home due to an injury, while left-arm orthodox spinner Taijul, too, missed the series.

Mushfiqur Rahim remains a doubt with a finger injury. The chief physician of the Bangladesh Cricket Board says the 34-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman will recover quickly.

Still a part of the squad, Mushfiqur is currently on a break to recover from the injury, thus the selectors are likely to give Sohan a shot to prove his worth.

The men in green and red played their last T20I on their tour of New Zealand in March-April this year.

Mosaddek Hossain, Shanto, Mohammad Mithun, Al-Amin Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Rubel have all been dropped from the T20I pack. Pacer Hasan has been out of action for a while due to an injury.

Shamim has caught the attention of the selectors with his aggressive batting, tight bowling and dynamic fielding in domestic cricket to earn his maiden call up.

A member of Bangladesh’s Under-19 world champion team, Shamim cracked 181 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of about 150.

The Harare Sports Club ground will host all the matches. The one-off Test will begin on July 7 followed by the ODI series on Jul 16, 18 and 20. The games in the shortest format will be played on Jul 23, 25 and 27.

Although the ODIs will be part of the ICC Super League, no day-night matches will be held.

Bangladesh squad for Zimbabwe tour:

Test squad: Mominul Haque (cpt), Tamim Iqbal, Sadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Abu Jayed Chowdhury, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain Chowdhury, Shoriful Islam

In: Shakib Al Hasan, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Naeem Hasan.

Out: Mohammad Mithun

ODI Squad: Tamim Iqbal (cpt), Mohammad Naim Sheikh, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Mithun, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mehidy Hasan Miraj, Taijul Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain and Shoriful Islam.

In: Nurul Hasan Sohan, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain

Out: Soumya Sarkar, Mehedi Hasan

Twenty20 squad: Mahmudullah (cpt), Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Naim Sheikh, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Nasum Ahmed, Mehedi Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mostafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam.

In: Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Nurul Hasan Shohan, Shamim Hossain

Out: Mosaddek Hossain, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mohammad Mithun, Al-Amin Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Medidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain.

On break: Mushfiqur Rahim.