Bangladesh name unchanged squad for first Australia Test

Bangladesh have opted to retain the squad that played the Test series against South Africa for the upcoming first Test against Australia. The squad also includes left-arm spinner Taijul Islam, who has recovered from a bout of jaundice which he suffered last month.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced the squad despite the uncertainty surrounding the series. Last week, Cricket Australia chose to delay the team's scheduled departure on September 28 due to increased security concerns. CA's chief executive, James Sutherland, cited "recent advice from a range of Australian government sources" that identified potential security risks to Australian interests in Bangladesh.

CA's decision to proceed with the Test series will depend on the outcome of meetings between its security chief Sean Carroll and government and police officials in Bangladesh. It is learnt that security officials who met with Carroll assured fool-proof security for the team and the BCB is also quietly confident of sharing more detailed information that can help ease CA's concerns.

According to the current schedule, the first Test is scheduled between October 9 and 13 in Chittagong, while the second Test will be played in Mirpur from October 17. Australia are also scheduled to play a three-day tour match against the BCB XI in Fatullah before the start of the Test series.

Bangladesh squad for the first Test: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal (vice-capt), Imrul Kayes, Jubair Hossain, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mohammad Shahid, Mominul Haque, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam