Mustafizur, Taskin to lead Bangladesh's bowling at T20 World Cup 2026

Fast bowlers Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed will lead Bangladesh’s bowling attack at next month’s T20 World Cup while batter Jaker Ali was axed as the country’s cricket board (BCB) named their 15-man squad for the tournament on Sunday.

Taskin, who has taken 106 wickets in 86 T20Is, returns to the team after missing their 2-1 series win over Ireland in December while he was competing in the Abu Dhabi T10 league.

Mustafizur and Taskin will spearhead a pace department which also includes Tanzim Hasan, Shoriful Islam and Mohammad Saifuddin, with Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan the spinners in the squad.

Litton Das will captain the team and will be tasked with putting runs on the board alongside Tanzid Hasan and Saif Hassan.

Jaker misses out after a poor 2025 in which he managed just 378 runs in 26 T20Is.

The T20 World Cup will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

Sunday’s team announcement followed reports that the BCB is seeking to move their World Cup matches out of India after fast bowler Mustafizur was released by his Indian Premier League team amid growing tensions between the countries.

Bangladesh are in Group C and will play West Indies, England and Italy in Kolkata before ending the group stage against Nepal in Mumbai.
They begin their campaign against with a match against the West Indies on February 7.

Bangladesh squad:

Litton Das (captain), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Tawhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Quazi Nurul Hasan Sohan, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Taskin Ahmed, Shaif Uddin, Shoriful Islam