Bangladesh Hand Maiden Test Call-Up to Mahfijul Islam for South Africa Tour

Mahfijul Islam has earned his first Test call-up after an impressive run in domestic cricket, as Bangladesh prepare for their two-match series in South Africa from November 15 to 27. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) named a 16-member squad on Monday, with top-order batter Mohammad Naim also making his way back into the team.

The selection comes just hours after Bangladesh lost their home Test series against West Indies 1-0. Mahfijul has been the standout batter in the ongoing National Cricket League, scoring 672 runs in five matches at an average of 74.67. His tally includes three centuries, with his best effort being a double hundred against Chattogram Division.

"We brought in [Mahfijul] Robin because we felt it was crucial to have a right-handed opener," said Bangladesh chief selector Habibul Bashar.

"It is something we had been looking for, for a while. We didn't really have anyone else ready, and we wanted to give Robin a bit more time to prepare. I believe he has proven himself; he looked very promising in first-class cricket and in the emerging team matches.” added Habibul Bashar.

Talking about Mohammad Naim, Bashar said the left-handed batter has also been included as he performed well against South Africa A during the recent tour.

"We sent Naim to South Africa [for the A series] where he looked very good. He has been batting exceptionally well in first-class cricket recently.” said Habibul Bashar.

"We have seen Naim play before, but based on his performance in the recent South Africa series and his first-class form, he appears to be in great shape, which is why we've included him." added Habibul Bashar.

Bangladesh have also made a couple of changes to their squad to better suit the conditions in South Africa, dropping Soumya Sarkar and Nayeem Hasan. Sarkar was part of the teams for the recent tours of Australia and Afghanistan but did not get a chance to play in either series.

The two-match series between South Africa and Bangladesh will begin in Johannesburg, where the first Test is scheduled for November 15 to 19. The teams will then move to Centurion for the second match from November 23 to 27.

Bangladesh Test Squad for South Africa Series

Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Tanzid Hasan, Mohammad Naim, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain, Khaled Ahmed and Mahfijul Islam.