Bangladesh will play Sri Lanka in the two-match series which starts at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo tomorrow (Tuesday).
The 2nd T20I will be held on Apr 6. Both the matches will begin at 7:30 pm (Bangladesh time).
Bangladesh registered the only victory against Sri Lanka in their last meeting at home in the Twenty20 format Asia Cup 2016. Since September 2007 Bangladesh and Sri Lanka played five T20Is where the latter side secured four victories.
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Saturday announced a 16-man squad for the series with return of Mushfiqur Rahim who missed the Tigers last three-match T20I series due to hamstring injury against New Zealand in January 2017.
Uncapped pace all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin has got a maiden call for the national side while Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Sunzamul Islam have been included in the squad to represent the country in the shortest format for the first time.
Fast bowler and a left-handed lower-order batsman Saifuddin first caught the selectors’ eye in the Under19 World Cup which was held in Bangladesh in 2016.
Saifuddin, a 20-year old by from Feni and now in Colombo, played in the last edition Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and picked up nine wickets from nine matches for Comilla Victorians. He captured 48 wickets at an average of 31.10 playing 23 First Class matches while with bat collected 833 runs at average 34.70, including six fifties.
Rubel Hossain, Shuvagata Hom and Taijul Islam who were in the last squad have been dropped.
In their 2nd overseas tour in 2017, Bangladesh drew series 1-1 in the Test and 1-1 in the ODI against Sri Lanka .
Bangladesh squad: Tamim Iqbal, Masrafe Bin Mortaza(captain), Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Shabbir Rahman,
Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Subashis Roy, Sanjamul Islam, Nurul hasan Sohan and Saif Uddin.
