Dubai: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday announced that 15 of the 16 men's squads for next month's ICC World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 have been confirmed.

Bangladesh will square off against Afghanistan in the tournament opener in Mirpur on 16 February, while former champions India and Pakistan will go head to head in the first match of the Super 10 stage at the same venue on 21 March. The final will be played in Mirpur on 6 April, while Chittagong and Sylhet are the other two venues that will be used for the tournament.

The cut-off date for the submission of 15-player squads was 16 February and all but Zimbabwe submitted their squads to the ICC before the deadline. Zimbabwe requested an extension, which was accepted by the ICC.

Yuvraj Singh is fit and raring to go. File Pic

The cut-off date for 14-member women's squads is 23 February. The 10-team ICC Women's World Twenty20 Bangladesh 2014 will start in Sylhet on 23 March, with the semi-finals and final to be held on the same day and at the same venue as the men's.

Defending champion West Indies has retained 12 players who were members of the side that defeated Sri Lanka by 36 runs in Colombo to win the 2012 event. The three newcomers are Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher and Krishmar Santokie, who have replaced the experienced but injured trio of Darren Bravo, Fidel Edwards and Kieron Pollard.

India has retained three players who were members of the side that defeated Pakistan by five runs in the inaugural event in Johannesburg in 2007. These players are captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh.
However, six players from the 2012 event will return to Bangladesh as India aims to reclaim the title, namely Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj.

Pakistan's side includes seven players from the squad that lifted the trophy at Lord's in 2009. These players are Ahmed Shahzad, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Sohail Tanvir and Umar Gul.

England has retained Stuart Broad, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Michael Lumb, Eoin Morgan, James Tredwell and Luke Wright from the side that defeated Australia by seven wickets in Barbados in 2010.

Host Bangladesh could be the most experienced side going into the tournament as it includes as many as six players who also played in the first event in South Africa almost seven years ago. These players are captain Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

George Bailey will lead Australia's charge to become only the third country after India and the West Indies to win all the three ICC majors. The squad includes eight players from the 2012 tournament (Bailey, Daniel Christian, Brad Hogg, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson and Cameron White), while five of them (Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Warner, Watson and White) featured in the final in Barbados in 2010.

Ireland has retained 13 players from the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2013, which it won after defeating Afghanistan by 68 runs at the Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The only two changes are Andrew Poynter and Craig Young replacing John Mooney and the retired Trent Johnston.

The Squads:

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (captain), Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hassan, Hamza Hotak, Karim Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Najibullah Taraki, Najibullah Zadran, Nawroz Mangal, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Shahzad, Shafiqullah, Shapoor Zadran

Australia: George Bailey (captain), Daniel Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brad Haddin, Brad Hodge, Brad Hogg, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, James Muirhead, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Shane Watson, Cameron White

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Al-Amin Hossain, Anamul Haque, Farhad Reza, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shamsur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Sohag Gazi, Tamim Iqbal

England: Stuart Broad (captain), Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Jos Buttler, Jade Dernbach, Alex Hales, Chris Jordan, Michael Lumb, Moeen Ali, Eoin Morgan, Stephen Parry, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, James Tredwell, Luke Wright

Hong Kong: Jamie Atkinson (captain), Aizaz Khan, Mark Chapman, Ehsan Nawaz, Haseeb Amjad, Babar Hayat, Irfan Ahmed, Roy Lamsam, Munir Dar, Nadeem Ahmed, Najeeb Amar, Nizakat Khan, Kinchit Shah, Tanwir Afzal, Waqas Barkat

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh

Ireland: William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin O'Brien, Niall O'Brien, Andrew Poynter, James Shannon, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young

Nepal: Paras Khadka (captain), Pradeep Airee, Prithu Baskota, Binod Bhandari, Naresh Budhaayer, Shakti Gauchan, Sompal Kami, Avinash Karn, Subash Khakurel, Gyanendra Malla, Jitendra Mukhiya, Sagar Pun, Basant Regmi, Sharad Vesawkar, Rahul Vishwakarma

Netherlands: Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Barresi, Logan van Beek, Mudassar Bukhari, Ben Cooper, Tim Gruijters, Timm van der Gugten, Tom Heggelman, Vivian Kingma, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Michael Rippon, Pieter Seelaar, Michael Swart, Eric Szwarczynski

New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (captain), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Anton Devcich, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez (captain), Ahmed Shehzad, Bilawal Bhatti, Junaid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Sharjeel Khan, Shoaib Malik, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Talha, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Zulfiqar Babar

South Africa: Francois du Plessis (captain), Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, Farhaan Behardien, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy, Beuran Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardena, Nuwan Kulasekara, Suranga Lakmal, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Kusal Perera, Thisara Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Kumar Sangakkara, Sachithra Senanayake, Lahiru Thirimanne

United Arab Emirates: Khurram Khan (captain), Ahmed Raza, Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Asadullah Shareef, Faizan Asif, Kamran Shahzad, Manjula Guruge, Moaaz Qazi, Rohan Mustafa, Swapnil Patil, Rohit Singh, Shadeep Silva, Shaiman Anwar, Vikrant Shetty

West Indies: Darren Sammy (captain), Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Johnson Charles, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith