Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das Return For T20I Series Against New Zealand

Bangladesh's upcoming five-match T20I series at home against New Zealand got a major boost with the return of Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das to the 19-member squad.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced on Thursday that apart from the duo, all-rounder Aminul Islam joins the team after returning from personal leave. Mohammad Mithun has been dropped from the squad which won 4-1 against Australia while Tamim Iqbal is not included as he is yet to recover fully from a knee injury.

Rahim and Das had been forced out of the series against Australia after missing the 10-day quarantine requirement deadline mutually decided between the BCB and Cricket Australia (CA). The return of Rahim and Das will bolster the Bangladesh batting order on slow wickets.

Rahim missed the deadline after opting out of the preceding Zimbabwe series for family reasons. Das, who had a left thigh injury, left the bio-bubble to attend to a family emergency. Islam, who lost his father while being on national duty in Zimbabwe, had opted out of the Australia series.

The New Zealand team, led by Tom Latham, is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on August 24 for the series ahead of the T20 World Cup in October and November in the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Just like the Australia series, the matches will be held behind closed doors at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on September 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10.

Squad: Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar, Liton Das, Mosaddek Hossain, Afif Hossain, Naim Sheikh, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shamim Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shoriful Islam, Taijul Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam Biplob and Nasum Ahmed.