‘We have picked Afif in Shakib’s place’

National team selector Hannan Sarkar explained Shakib Al Hasan's absence in the squad for the first three Twenty20s of the five-match series against Zimbabwe, saying the all-rounder wanted to play two 50-over matches at the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) to regain his groove before joining the Bangladesh team.

"Shakib will return to the country on the 30th. He asked us to allow him to play a couple of matches in the DPL," Hannan said after announcing the 15-member squad yesterday.

"After speaking with the management and the cricket board, we feel that it could be a good thing. Because in T20s, players don't have enough time to get back into the swing of things. He can do that by playing in the DPL. That's why we didn't keep him in the squad for the first three matches," he added.

Hannan also said that the selectors included Afif Hossain specifically as a replacement for the star all-rounder.

"We have included Afif Hossain. As Shakib is not in the squad for the first three matches, we have picked Afif in his place," said the former Bangladesh team batsman.

Mustafizur Rahman is set to return to Bangladesh on May 2, a day before the series against Zimbabwe kicks off in Chattogram, after finishing his stint with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL.

The board ignored calls of increasing his NOC till the end of the IPL season and brought him in for the Zimbabwe series. But the selectors chose not to name him for the first three T20s.

Hannan said that Mustafizur himself wanted a rest in either the Chattogram or Dhaka phase of the series. The selectors chose to rest him for the three matches in the port city and presumably will name him in the squad for the final two T20s in Dhaka.

"Mustafizur has been playing continuously, that's why we didn't keep him in the squad for the first three matches. He needs to recover mentally and physically. He had asked for some time to recover in one of the two phases, we decided to give rest in the first phase."