Mahmudullah has been left out for the first Test against Australia
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Bangladesh have axed all-rounder Mahmudullah and batsman Mominul Haque from their squad for the first Test against Australia, which gets underway on August 27 in Mirpur.
Mahmudullah’s exclusion came as a bit of a surprise, especially as he struck a game-winning 102 not out to help Bangladesh beat New Zealand and advance to the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in England in June.
When asked why Mahmudullah had been dropped, chief selector Minhajul Abedin pointed out that he had not been able to replicate his form in ODIs in the longest format.
As for Mominul, who has been dropped for the first time since making his Test debut in March 2013, Adedin revealed that he was not selected since the selectors didn’t want to change the squad that beat Sri Lanka in a historic match in March. Not only was it Bangladesh’s 100th Test match, but it was also the first time they had defeated Sri Lanka in Test cricket.
“Mominul made just one fifty in the last six innings,” Abedin said. “He was dropped because of his form. Imrul and Soumya are ahead of them. Soumya has four fifties in the last eight innings during this period, averaging 45.75. So that’s why Mominul went below in our consideration. He is our first choice among those not in the team. It is not the end of his career because he is dropped for the first Test.
“Mominul is not unlucky because based on current form, others are ahead of him. There’s less pressure playing in away Test than a home game, so we didn’t take that into account.”
With the duo having been dropped, Bangladesh have recalled all-rounder Nasir Hossain, who last played a Test match in August 2015.
They also brought back pace bowler Shafiul Islam, who has not represented Bangladesh in the longest format since October 2016.
Bangladesh’s squad for the first Test: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Mosaddek Hossain, Nasir Hossain, Shafiul Islam