Mahmudullah to lead Bangladesh in first SL T20I

Mahmudullah Riad will lead Bangladesh in first of the two T20Is against Sri Lanka after regular captain Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of the same, failing to recover from a finger injury.

Mahmudullah Riad will lead Bangladesh in first of the two T20Is against Sri Lanka after regular captain Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of the same, failing to recover from a finger injury.

The star all-rounder also missed the recent Test series against Sri Lanka after sustaining the injury during the one-day international tri-series final against the same opponents in January. Left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam will replace Shakib in the squad for the first match.

"He was making good progress so we thought he might be available for both the matches. But it seems now he cannot play the first Twenty20," said chief selector Minhajul Abedin.

"We will see how he goes before we decide about playing him in the second match."

Interestingly, vice-captain Tamim Iqbal was not considered for the stand-in captain’s role.

The two-match T20 series begins from February 15.

Squad: Mahmudullah (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Abu Hider, Abu Jayed, Ariful Hoque, Mahedi Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Afif Hossain, Nazmul Ismail