Najmul Hossain Shanto and Hasan Mahmud have been named in the Bangladesh squad for the upcoming Asian Games 2026, which is set to be played in September.
The captain, Litton Das, who missed the Zimbabwe and Australia series due to a hamstring injury, will be returning to the squad for the tournament. Towhid Hridoy will be serving as the vice-captain.
However, Nurul Hasan and Abdul Gaffar have been dropped, while Nahid Rana is currently recovering from his side strain. Shanto’s last T20I appearance was against UAE at Sharjah.
Shanto recently led Bangladesh to a historic Test win in Australia, where he scored a half-century in Darwin. He made 355 runs in the BPL last year, including a fifty and a century.
On the other hand, the pace attack looks lethal with the presence of Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud, while Taskin Ahmed and Abdul Gaffar are the names missing from the squad that toured Zimbabwe.
Meanwhile, Mahmud last played in the Pakistan tour, where he took three wickets in three games and conceded at an economy of 11.30. He was named the player of the match when Bangladesh secured a win against Australia.
Mahmud had 10 wickets at an average of 24.67 in the tournament. Along with India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, Bangladesh had secured automatic qualification for the tournament alongside the hosts Japan.
Meanwhile, Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and Oman had booked their slot following the qualifier tournament.
Bangladesh will play their opening match against the Group B winner on September 28. All the matches of the Asian Games 2026 will be played at Korogi Sports Park.
Bangladesh Squad for Asian Games 2026: Litton Das (c), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Mohammed Saif Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tawhid Hridoy, Musaddek Hossain Saikat, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Rishad Hossain, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Shaif Uddin, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud