ICC Champions Trophy 2025 : Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das Sacked As Bangladesh Name A Young & Dynamic 15-Player Squad

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Bangladesh have left their experienced duo of Litton Das and Shakib Al Hasan out of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025 squad. Bangladesh released a statement to announce the 15-member squad for next month’s highly-anticipated tournament. The high-profile axing of players comes on the back of Litton Das‘s dry run of form. In the ODIs, the wicketkeeper batter Litton Das has struggled to post a single fifty in his last 13 innings. During this run in the last seven innings, he has been dismissed for single-digit scores six times.

Litton Das has been left out of the 15-member Bangladesh squad for the Champions Trophy to be held next month in Pakistan and the UAE. Meanwhile, the quartet of Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy and Mustafizur Rahman return to the squad after they had missed the 3-0 ODI series defeat to West Indies last month.

Ignored For Champions Trophy 2025, Star Wicketkeeper-Batter Litton Das Slams 55-Ball 125 In BPL

Star wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das, who was ignored by Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) selectors on Sunday, January 12, for a place in Bangladesh’s ICC Champions Trophy 2025 squad, slammed an attacking century for his Bangladesh Premier League side Dhaka Capitals.

The 30-year-old right-handed batter opened the innings for the Thisara Perera-led side and, with the help of 10 fours and 9 sixes, scored 125 runs from just 55 balls. He completed his century in 41 balls and added 241 runs in 19.3 overs for the first wicket with Tanzid Hasan (108 runs from 64 balls).

Litton Das, who has 2569 runs to his name in 94 ODIs played so far, was a shocking omission from the Bangladesh squad for the eight-team tournament. The decision to leave out Litton Das comes after the Bangladesh chief selector, Gazi Ashraf Hossain, had admitted that they were concerned about the ‘keeper-batter’s poor form back in December. Litton Das had managed to score only six runs in three ODIs in the Caribbean. Jaker Ali is set to don the keeping gloves following Litton Das’s omission.

Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead the Bangladeshi team in the Champions Trophy, and the 15-member squad features senior players like Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mustafizur Rahman, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, among others.

Najmul will lead the side in the tournament after Mehidy Hasan Miraz stepped in for him in the previous bilateral series. The former has recovered from a groin injury which he suffered back in November. Both Rahim and Hridoy return from injuries as well in time for the tournament. The veteran makes his way back into the side after recovering from a finger injury while the latter, similar to his skipper, has recovered from a groin injury.

In addition to Litton Das missing out, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud and Afif Hossain failed to make the cut. The trio picked up only two wickets between them across the three ODIs against West Indies.

The pace attack for the Bangladesh side has a balance of youth and experience with young speedsters in Nahid Rana, Tanzim Hasan, Taskin Ahmed and Rahman. The spin attack will be led by leg spinner Rishad Hossain, Mehidy and Nasum Ahmed. The batting department already bolstered by the returning Najmul and Rahim also contains veterans Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar. Tanzid Hasan and Parvez Hossain Emon make up the rest of the batters.

Apart from Litton Das , who has led Bangladesh in seven ODI matches in the past, legendary all-rounder and former captain Shakib Al Hasan was also ignored by BCB selectors. Shakib, who quit T20Is last year and is living in the United States these days, last played a 50-over match for the semifinalists of the 2017 edition of the ICC Champions Trophy on November 6, 2023, against Sri Lanka at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

Shakib Al Hasan’s hopes vanished as he was excluded from the Bangladesh squad as well

Any hopes of Shakib al Hasan returning to the squad was put to bed after the all-rounder failed a bowling reassessment test in Chennai last month. Further speculation of Tamim Iqbal’s inclusion in the side was also put to rest after the left-handed batter retired from international cricket last week.

Bangladesh chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain admitted that veteran all-rounder Shakib was considered but could not fit him in as a pure batter in the squad. He further added that Litton Das was excluded due to his recent strut of poor performances and not having been able to take advantage of the PowerPlay.

Shakib is Bangladesh’s second most capped player in ODIs, and in 247 matches played so far, he has accounted for the dismissal of 317 batters, which is the most by any Bangladeshi bowler. With the bat, he has scored 7570 runs in 234 innings. He is only behind Tamim Iqbal (8357) and Mushfiqur Rahim (7793) in the list of batters with the most runs for Bangladesh in the 50-over format of the game.

Shakib’s exclusion comes amid his suspension from bowling in ICC events. Due to an illegal bowling action, the 37-year-old was suspended from bowling in top-flight cricket. He recently failed the second test of independent assessment of his action. Apart from Litton Das and Shakib, other notable exclusions in Bangladesh’s squad are all-rounder Afif Hossain and the pace duo of Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud.

Experienced middle-order batter Mahmudullah has retained his place in the squad. Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Rishad Hossain will be the two frontline spinners for Bangladesh. Najmul Hossain Shanto has returned to the ODI fold as the skipper of the side after missing the West Indies tour due to a hamstring injury last November. Other notable returnees in Bangladesh’s squad include Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy and Mustafizur Rahman.

The most notable inclusion in Bangladesh’s squad features Parvez Hossain Emon, who has been handed his maiden ODI call-up. The 22-year-old wicketkeeper has seven T20I outings under his belt, scoring 88 runs at an average of 12.57. Young prodigy and pace gun Nahid Rana, who made his debut in the format in the recent series against the West Indies, has been included in the squad. In three ODI appearances, the Bangladesh tearaway has four scalps, averaging 31.50 with an economy of 4.72.

Bangladesh’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Parvez Hossain Emon, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Jaker Ali Anik, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

Bangladesh are grouped with India, New Zealand and Pakistan in Group A of the Champions Trophy. They will play their first game against India in Dubai on February 20. Bangladesh will open its campaign in the Champions Trophy against India on February 20 in Dubai and then face New Zealand in the second Group A match on February 24 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Bangladesh’s third and final group match is against Pakistan, and it is also scheduled to take place at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Also Read: IND vs ENG: “Side Arm Specialists In India Need To Work Hard To Prepare Batters For Tough Times”- Abhishek Jain Gives His Invaluable Insights


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