Mominul returns after nominal omission

Mominul Haque's exile from Bangladesh's Test squad to face Australia has lasted only 24 hours after the batsman was recalled on Sunday.

Haque's omission from the 14-man squad for the two-Test series originally caused a stir, with Bangladesh selectors grilled by local media at the squad announcement on Saturday.

But the Bangladesh Cricket Board relented on Sunday evening, confirming Haque would return to the squad as a replacement for Mossadek Hossain, who is battling a left eye infection.

Mominul burst onto the international scene in 2013 with back-to-back hundreds against New Zealand as a 22-year-old, kick-starting a rich vein of form that saw him come close to an all-time Test run-scoring record.

Following his 181 and 126 not out at home to the Kiwis, the left-hander passed 50 in each of his next nine Tests, joining Virender Sehwag, Sir Viv Richards, Gautam Gambhir as batsmen to have raised their bat in 11 consecutive Tests. England captain Joe Root joined that group this week against the West Indies and could equal AB de Villiers record of 12 straight 50+ scores in the second Test.

Despite half-centuries at home to England in October and away in New Zealand in January, Mominul was axed for Bangladesh's most recent Test, a four-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Colombo. 

While he still sports a healthy Test batting average of 46.88, Bangladesh head selector Minhajul Abedin declared Mominul is short of form.

"Mominul also missed out the last Test match. In addition, the kind of statistics that we have, they indicate he is not in good form," Abedin said in Dhaka on Saturday.

"He scored just one fifty in the last six innings since January. Yet, he is in our plans for the future. 

"(But) at the moment, we are preferring Imrul Kayes and Soumya Sarkar more in his position."

Mossadek's injury means Bangladesh's tally of front-line or all-round spinning options has dropped from five to four.

In their last 10 Tests on their home turf, spin has accounted for nearly 85 per cent of the wickets Bangladesh have taken.

Leading light Shakib Al Hasan, teenage sensation Mehedi Hasan, spinning allrounder Nasir Hossain and left-armer Taijul Islam could all feature against Australia.

Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mominul Haque.

22-23 August Tour match, TBC

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong