Bangladesh rope in four rookies for opening England Test

Bangladesh have brought in four uncapped players in the 14-man squad for the opening Test of the two-match series against England, starting on Thursday here in Chittagong.

Middle-order batsman Sabbir Rahman and wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan have received national call-up for the first time along with former Under-19 captain Mehedi Hasan and pace bowler Kamrul Islam.

Rahman, who appeared in 29 ODIs and 26 T20Is for Bangladesh, has been named in the national Test squad following his impressive performances in the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against the Jos Buttler-led side.

Seamer Shafiul Islam and off-spinner Shuvagata Hom have also been included in the Test squad.

Meanwhile, Nasir Hossain, Jubair Hossain, Rubel Hossain have all been dropped while Liton Das, Mohammad Shahid and Mustafizur Rahman are all sidelined due to their respective injuries.

Reflecting on the squad, chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that they considered the pitch as well as England's batting line-up while picking the specialist bowlers.

"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 offspinner as we believe he has much to offer since his performance at the U19 level. We have taken [Kamrul Islam] Rabbi because he has done well in first-class tournaments. He has ability to bowl fast with the old ball," Abedin was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

The Bangladesh Test squad for the opening match is as follows:

Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal (vice-capt), 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.