Mustafizur will not feature in the first Test against New Zealand

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Bangladesh have opted to rest left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman for the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington.

Mustafizur recently recovered from a shoulder injury that he underwent surgery for and with a heavy schedule coming up, which includes a one-off Test in India next month, a full tour of Sri Lanka in March and the Champions Trophy in June, Bangladesh will want to manage the 21-year-old’s workload in order to ensure he doesn’t break down again.

Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim is set to be fit for the first Test after recovering from a hamstring injury he sustained in the recently concluded ODI series.

Bangladesh have also decided to include Rubel Hossain and the uncapped Taskin Ahmed in place of Shuvagata Hom and Mosaddek Hossain.

With Mustafizur out, it is highly likely that Taskin will get the opportunity to make his Test debut on January 12.

Bangladesh squad for first Test: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Nurul Hasan, Subashis Roy.