Big picture: Mustafizur's form a worry
Among the few things that have gone wrong for Bangladesh this year, their tour of Zimbabwe stands out. They lost the one-off Test and the ODI series, while also losing their in-form fast bowler Nahid Rana to injury during that tour. They return to face Zimbabwe in the tri-series opener in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, with the Sikandar Raza-led side clearly holding a recent edge.
Zimbabwe, however, are coming off a difficult ODI series against Australia last month. They lost the series 3-0, having pushed the current world champions in the third ODI, which ended in a one-wicket defeat for the home side. Zimbabwe, though, have a number of new performers coming up through the ranks alongside the experienced ones.
Raza, who continues to lead Zimbabwe in the absence of the injured Richard Ngarava, has Craig Ervine and Brendan Taylor for experience, but the younger brigade - Brian Bennett, Ben Curran and Newman Nyamhuri - are expected to have big roles in this outing. Brad Evans and Blessing Muzarabani will have a say with the new ball.
Bangladesh have most of their ODI protagonists back, except, of course, Rana. The 24-year-old has been sent to Perth for another check-up as he targets a return to competitive cricket later this month. Litton Das, though, has plenty of bowling options, which is likely to give him a few headaches. Some big decisions lie ahead, as Mustafizur Rahman is at risk of losing his place after two poor performances in the Asian Games.
Litton himself returns as the ODI captain, having missed the away series against Zimbabwe in July. He replaces Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who has so far handled his sacking quite well, at least through his on-field performances. Litton could take a gamble with the mystery spinner Aliss Al Islam, too, especially after his impressive showing in the BPL over the last few years and a competent T20I debut recently.
Bangladesh also seemingly have batting depth, with Tanzid Hasan and Soumya Sarkar expected to be the opening pair. Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy and Litton will form the middle order, with Mosaddek Hossain and Mehidy expected to bolster the lower order. They also have Saif Hassan and Nurul Hasan as bench strength.
Form guide
Bangladesh WLLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Zimbabwe LLLLW
In the spotlight: Litton Das and Brad Evans
Bangladesh will look to Litton Das, after his record-breaking Test performance earlier this week. Litton's century, half-century and nine dismissals represent the first such instance for a wicketkeeper in Tests, coming at a time when he is about to take charge as ODI captain. Litton has also shown good form in ODIs in 2026, having scored 300 runs in nine innings. He endured two extremely poor years in 2024 and 2025, when he scored six runs in as many matches.
Brad Evans has the chance to close in on Jofra Archer's 2026 wicket tally. Evans is currently on 44 wickets, nine behind the England superstar. In Zimbabwe's last outing, against Australia in the home ODI series, Brad Evans took 4 for 47. Evans has been Zimbabwe's highest wicket-taker in this format this year. He has taken nine wickets against Australia, having already taken five against Bangladesh in July. Evans has been effective in Tests and T20Is, too, as he has made the most of his comeback from injury this year.
Team news: Will Bangladesh drop Mustafizur?
Litton will return to the playing XI, most likely in place of Nurul Hasan, but the big question mark hangs over Mustafizur, who had a shocker in the Asian Games recently. If Mustafizur isn't picked, it will be the first time he has been dropped from an ODI side in his career.
Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Soumya Sarkar, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Litton Das (capt & wk), 6 Mosaddek Hossain, 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Taskin Ahmed, 9 Hasan Mahmud, 10 Shoriful Islam, 11 Tanvir Islam.
The highly rated Newman Nyamhuri is likely to return to the playing XI, while Ryan Burl will be considered in the middle order.
Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Ben Curran, 3 Innocent Kaia, 4 Brendan Taylor (wk), 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Sikandar Raza (capt), 7 Ryan Burl/Wessly Madhevere, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Graeme Cremer, 10 Newman Nyamhuri, 11 Blessing Muzarabani.
Pitch and conditions
Pitches have been generally slow in day-night contests in Abu Dhabi, with the side batting first averaging 266 in the last five ODIs here. Of those five matches, four teams have won batting first. Heat and humidity will be major factors in Abu Dhabi.
Stats and trivia: A neutral encounter after 20 years
- This will be the first Bangladesh-Zimbabwe ODI at a neutral venue in 20 years. The last encounter was in Jaipur during the Champions Trophy in 2006.
- Zimbabwe will play their first ODI at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, where Bangladesh have won two of their six encounters so far.
- Brendan Taylor, who last played an ODI against Bangladesh in 2021, remains the highest run-scorer among the active players from both teams in this encounter.
Quotes
"We want to win the trophy, definitely, but to do that, we have to win both the (round-robin) matches against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan. Our Test players adjusted to the heat pretty well. We have trained for a few days here so we hope there will be a bit of breeze in the evening, since the matches will start in the late afternoon."
>Bangladesh batter Mosaddek Hossain on their goal for the tri-series
Mohammad Isam is Cricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84