Bangladesh recalls Hossain, Shafiul for 1st test v Australia

Dhaka: Bangladesh have re-called all-rounder Nasir Hossain and medium pacer Shafiul Islam to its 14-member squad for the first cricket test against Australia.

Hossain played his last test in 2015, and Islam in 2016.

Middle-order batsman Mominul Haque and Mahmudullah, part of Bangladesh's squad in the 1-1 drawn series against Sri Lanka, were left out. Haque has an impressive 46.88 test average — the best among Bangladeshi batsmen who played at least 20 tests — and was dropped for the first time since his debut in 2013.

The first of two tests against Australia starts Aug. 27.

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said Bangladesh didn't want to change the winning combination from the Colombo test in March.

"Mominul made just one 50 in the last six innings and his average dropped to below 28, that was reason to axe him," Abedin said. "Mahmudullah's form was not encouraging ... Nasir Hossain has been doing well in this period on the domestic circuit."

Shafiul returned to the side after picking up five wickets in a recent warm-up match in Chittagong.

Fast bowlers Subashis Roy and Rubel Hossain were dropped.

Australia arrived in the Bangladeshi capital on Friday amid tight security for its first test series here since Ricky Ponting's team visited in 2006, six years after the hosts were granted test status.

Australia was due to play test series in Bangladesh in 2011 and 2015 but these were called off over security fears.

Australia has won just two matches out of 20 on the sub-continent in the last decade — winning the three-match series against Sri Lanka 1-0 in 2011, and beating India in its 2-1 defeat in a four-match series this year.

"I thought we did some things really well in India. We just needed to do it for little bit longer, and consistently," Australia captain Steve Smith said Saturday. "This is another opportunity to showcase our skills, show what we learned over there (against spin in India)."

Bangladesh has never beaten Australia at test level.

The first test is at Sher-e Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, with the second test starting Sept. 4 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong.

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Bangladesh Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), 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.