Litton Das ruled out, Jaker Ali to continue as Bangladesh captain in Afghanistan T20Is after Asia Cup

The 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Jaker Ali will continue to lead the Bangladesh T20 side after the Asia Cup in the three-match series against Afghanistan in Sharjah, starting Thursday, October 2. Jaker replaced regular skipper Litton Das, who injured himself in the training before the India game in the Asia Cup and missed the last two games of the tournament. Das still hasn't recovered and hence, Jaker, who impressed with his bowling changes and tactics, keeps the job.

Senior opener Soumya Sarkar replaced Das in the 16-man squad for the Afghanistan T20I series, in the only change in the squad. With Litton missing out, Bangladesh might throw in a Sarkar in the crowded top-order featuring Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan and Tanzid Tamim.

Bangladesh will take confidence from beating Afghanistan in the Asia Cup group stage into the series and having reached the Super Fours, they will fancy their chances beating an underconfident Rashid Khan and Co.

Bangladesh beat Afghanistan and Sri Lanka in back-to-back games before falling on the wrong side of the result against India and Pakistan and exited the tournament. On the other hand, the conditions in Sharjah will provide much more assistance to Afghanistan spinners, who weren't as effective in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as they would have liked.

The Asia Cup would have been a huge learning curve for the Afghanistan T20 team, which is trending upwards. The three-match series kicks off on October 2, followed by the remaining two games on October 3 and 5. The two sides will then shift to as many ODIs in Abu Dhabi on October 8, 11 and 14.

Bangladesh squad for Afghanistan T20Is: Jaker Ali Anik (c), Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Saif Hassan, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain Patwary, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Soumya Sarkar