Bangladesh are slated to play 16 T20Is against the UAE, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and India ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup. An additional six matches against the West Indies and Ireland will follow. With a packed T20 calendar and Shanto’s declining performances in the format, his inclusion in the squad becomes increasingly difficult to justify.

The left-hander made fluent starts in both of Bangladesh’s Champions Trophy fixtures — scoring 25 and 24 at a run-a-ball against India and New Zealand respectively — but failed to convert those into bigger scores.

Opener Liton Das produced a batting masterclass on his way to a maiden T20 hundred and built an epic 241-run opening stand with another centurion Tanzid Tamim to end Dhaka Capitals’ six-match winless streak as they thrashed Durbar Rajshahi by 149 runs in the Bangladesh Premier League in Sylhet on Sunday.

If you are a left-handed top-order Bangladesh batter, you would not like the sight of Afghanistan’s left-handed pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi steaming in at you with the new ball.

The left-handed opener struck 19 fours and four sixes on his way to a quick-fire 141 off 133 balls

Bangladesh opener Soumya Sarker returned to the side as he replaced Liton Das at the top of the order in the fourth T2OI against Zimbabwe at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Friday. 

Bangladesh got off to a winning start in the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe on Friday, as the Tigers began ramping up preparations for the forthcoming T20 World Cup with wins under their belt.

Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp praised opener Tanzid Tamim, pointing out the 23-year-old’s mentality to stay ahead of the game after the left-handed batter scored a match-winning half-century in the Tigers’ eight-wicket win in the first of the five-match series against Zimbabwe in Chattogram on Friday.

Bangladesh were keeping an eye on two players who would have key roles in bolstering the World Cup squad. Mohammad Saifuddin’s three wickets and Tanzid Hasan’s debut fifty against Zimbabwe during the eight-wicket win in the first T20I in Chattogram on Friday would reassure the team management ahead of the T20 World Cup in June.

Mohammad Saifuddin returned to the national team squad for the first time in 18 months as Bangladesh Cricket Board today announced a 15-member squad for the first three matches of the Zimbabwe T20 series, starting on May 3.

Sri Lanka’s assistant coach Naveed Nawaz said he was surprised at Soumya Sarker being replaced through a concussion substitution in Bangladesh’s four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the series-deciding third ODI in Chattogram on Monday. 

Tanzid, who came in as a concussion substitute for Soumya Sarkar, hit a eye-catching 84 off 81 balls with the help of nine fours and four sixes in the third ODI against Sri Lanka.

Soumya won't be able to bat in the Bangladesh chase and the management has named Tanzid Hasan Tamim as his concussion substitute.

'I have the desire to represent Bangladesh across all three formats as I don’t want to confine myself to a particular format'

When it came to ability, Bangladesh team management had no doubt about Tanzid Hasan Tamim as the dashing opener was given the license to play freely during his surprise inclusion at last year’s ICC ODI World Cup in India.

Here is a look at Tanzid Hasan Tamim's celebration after reaching the three-figure mark in pictures

Tanzid made 116 off 65 balls in a brilliantly paced innings where he hit eight fours and the same number of sixes

Tanzid made 50 off 40 balls while Bruce hit an unbeaten 51 off 44 deliveries as Chattogram cruised to 138-2 in just 17.4 overs.

Bangladesh carried on with their underwhelming showing with the bat in the ongoing ODI World Cup on Thursday, posting a modest 256-8 against India in Pune, in an innings that hardly merits an in-depth dissection.

Bangladesh got off to a brilliant start today.