The move came after captain Litton Das had criticised the selectors for leaving Shamim out of the squad for the series, saying that neither he nor coach Phil Simmons had been informed about it. Chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain said last Friday that Shamim was being dropped to give Mahidul Islam Ankon a run in the middle order.
“I think it would have been better if [Shamim] was in the team. But this is not my call, [it is] totally the selectors’ call,” Litton, known to be a mild-mannered man, had said before the first T20I. “I don’t know why, but the selector dropped Shamim without giving us notice. I have known that a captain would know which player would be in the team, and which player would be out of the team. I don’t see any reason behind Shamim getting dropped. It would have been better if he was in the team.”
Ashraf countered Litton later the same day, saying that he didn’t need the captain’s permission to select or not select a player, though there has clearly been a change of heart now.
The relationship between the two has reportedly been frosty since Ashraf dropped Litton during the ODI series against Sri Lanka last year.
For the record, Shamim had recorded scores of 0, 0, 1 and 1 in his last four T20Is.
The T20I series is level at 1-1 going into the decider.
Bangladesh squad for third T20I against Ireland
Litton Das (capt, wk), Saif Hassan (vice-capt), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Nurul Hasan, Mahidul Islam, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin, Shamim Hossain