Litton Das to captain Bangladesh in upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan

Dhaka, June 4 (IANS) Wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das will be captaining Bangladesh in the upcoming one-off Test against Afghanistan starting from June 14 in Dhaka.

Das' elevation to captaincy comes after premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan's finger injury ruled him out of action for at least six weeks during the ODI series against Ireland in Chelmsford last month.

In the 15-member squad led by Das, Bangladesh have included uncapped players, batter Shahadat Hossain Dipu and pacer Musfik Hasan. Taskin Ahmed and Zakir Hasan make a return to the Test team after recovering from side strain and thumb injury respectively, with no places for Shadman Islam and Rejaur Rahman Raja.

Shahadat, 21, is a right-handed middle-order batter who made his first-class debut in 2021, after being a member of the Bangladesh side winning the 2020 Men's U-19 World Cup in South Africa. He has scored 1265 runs from 20 first-class games with two hundreds and 10 half-centuries.

Mushfik, 20, burst onto the scene after his debut in the 2022/23 first-class season. He has taken 49 wickets from 13 matches with three five-wicket hauls. Both players were part of Bangladesh A side in the just-concluded unofficial Test series against West Indies A, with Shahadat making two half-centuries.

The Afghanistan Test side will arrive on June 10 to play the Test match which starts on June 14 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. Bangladesh, on the other hand, arrived at the stadium on Sunday to begin their practice sessions.

The last time these two teams met in a Test match, Afghanistan won by 224 runs at Chattogram in 2019. After a break due to the Eid al-Adha festival, Afghanistan will be back in Bangladesh to play three ODIs and two T20Is in July.

Bangladesh squad: Litton Kumer Das (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque Showrab, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Mushfik Hasan.

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