Bangladesh ring the changes for first England Test
Sabbir Rahman is among four uncapped players to be included the Bangladesh for the first Test against England.
Batsman Sabbir played in all three one-day internationals in the 2-1 series defeat against England this month and could make his first appearance in the longest format in Chittagong.
Sabbir, who was fined 20 per cent of his match fee following an incident which involved England’s stand-in captain Jos Buttler in the second ODI, is joined by Mehedi Hasan, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Nurul Hasan in the 14-man squad.
Eighteen-year-old all-rounder Mehedi could feature in his first full international after captaining his country at under-19 level, while paceman Rabbi and wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul are also in line to make their Test bows.
Seamer Shafiul Islam and off-spinner Shuvagata Hom were also included in the Tigers squad for the first of two Tests against England – which starts on Thursday.
Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said: “We have taken two pace bowlers taking into account that Chittagong offers a flat pitch. We retained Shuvagata to tackle England’s left-handed batsmen.
“We also took [Mehedi Hasan] Miraz as a specialist off-spinner as we believe he has much to offer since his performance at the U19 level.
“We have taken Rabbi because he has done well in first-class tournaments. He has ability to bowl fast with the old ball.”
Meanwhile, Abdul Mazid top scored with 106 and Zafar Ansari took 4-68 as a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI were all out for 294 on day one against England, with the tourists closing on 2-0.
Bangladesh Test squad in full: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan , Mahmudullah, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Mehedi Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Nurul Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Shuvagata Hom.
