Bangladesh have picked five uncapped players in the squad for the first T20I against Sri Lanka on February 15. The inclusions of Abu Jayed, Ariful Haque, Mahedi Hasan, Zakir Hasan and Afif Hossain are among the seven changes in the side, which also sees the return of Abu Hider after two years.
Seamer Jayed was the second highest wicket-taker in the 2017 BPL, while Mahedi took 10 wickets at 25.70. Ariful was the highest run-scorer among the uncapped Bangladeshi batsmen, having played match-winning knocks for Khulna Titans, while Zakir is a wicketkeeper-batsman who was impressive in this year's BPL.
Tamim Iqbal and Mustafizur Rahman return to the side after missing the South Africa T20Is in October through injuries. Bangladesh have dropped Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Mehidy Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain and Taskin Ahmed from that side.
Taskin and Shafiul continue to miss out on senior selection, having also been dropped from the Test and ODI squads, while Imrul, Mehidy and Nasir have lost their places on recent form. Liton and Mominul are mainly part of the Test side these days, but were kept in the T20 squad in South Africa as reserve batsmen.
Bangladesh squad: Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Abu Hider, Abu Jayed, Ariful Haque, Mahedi Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Afif Hossain.