Bangladesh announce squad for one-off Afghanistan Test

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced a 15-player squad for the one-off Test against Afghanistan, to be played in the United Arab Emirates from 9 October 2026. Najmul Hossain Shanto continues in his role as Test captain.

Tanzid Hasan, Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque are the steady top-order options, with Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das present in the middle. Soumya Sarkar is also among the other batters present.

Bangladesh squad: Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Tanzid Hasan, Shadman Islam, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Tawhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Shoriful Islam.

Reserves: Nayeem Hasan, Musfik Hasan, Iqbal Hossain Emon

Bangladesh are coming off a historic drawn Test series against Australia, and would look to build on their recent successes.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam form the spin attack, backed by a pace unit of Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury and Shoriful Islam.

Off-spinner Nayeem Hasan and pacers Musfik Hasan and Iqbal Hossain Emon have been named as travelling reserves and will accompany the Test squad to the UAE.

The fixture opens a busier multi-format season for Afghanistan in the UAE across October and November, which is also reported to include white-ball series involving Zimbabwe. 

The announcement comes on the back of a landmark tour of Australia in August, where Bangladesh recorded their first-ever Test victory on Australian soil. The Tigers won the series opener at Marrara Oval, Darwin, by nine wickets, built on a maiden Test century from Tanzid Hasan and a five-wicket haul from Mehidy Hasan Miraz.

Australia levelled the series with an innings-and-51-run win in the second Test at Mackay, where Mitchell Starc took ten wickets in the match, leaving the two-match series drawn 1-1.