Bangladesh team to leave for UAE today

Bangladesh team celebrate as pacer Shoriful Islam picks up the wicket of Mitchel Marsh in the third T20I match against Bangladesh at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on 6 August 2021Prothom Alo file photo

The Bangladesh national cricket team will leave for Dubai on Thursday afternoon to play in the SKYEXCH Friendship T20 Series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reports BSS.

The squad, led by wicketkeeper-batsman Nurul Hasan Sohan, will depart at 5.30pm. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan however won't be available for the series as he is currently in West Indies to play the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The two-match series will be played at the Dubai Cricket Stadium with the matches on September 25 and 27. The team will return home on September 28. Both games are day-nighters starting at 8pm Bangladesh time.

Bangladesh thereafter will leave the country for New Zealand where they will play a tri-nation T20 series, involving hosts New Zealand and Pakistan. The tri-nation series is seen as the preparation platform for the T20I World Cup in Australia.

After the tri-nation series, Bangladesh will move to Australia directly and will play two warm-up matches against Afghanistan and South Africa, slated on 17 and 19 October.

Bangladesh will start their World Cup mission on 24 October, taking on the runners-up of Group-A in Hobart.

Their second match is against South Africa in Sydney on 27 October after which they will face off Group-B champions at the Gabba in Brisbane on 30 October. Bangladesh then will take on subcontinent powerhouse India on 2 November and Pakistan on 6 November. Both matches will be played in Adelaide.

Bangladesh squad

Nurul Hasan Sohan (Captain), Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain Saikot, Liton Kumer Das, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Mustafizur Rahman, Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Hasan Mahmud, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Soumya Sarkar and Rishad Hossain.