The Pakistan Cricket Board have announced their playing 11 for the first Test against Bangladesh that is set to take place at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
Reflecting on their last tour to Australia, Pakistan has retained more or less the same batting unit. The likes of Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub will be opening the order followed by the skipper Shan Masood slotting in at the number three position.
The experienced Babar Azam will come in at number four followed by the likes of vice-captain Saud Shakeel and then the wicketkeeper-batter, Mohammad Rizwan. Salman Ali Agha will come in at number 7 and is the only spinner on the side.
- OUT – Mir Hamza, Hasan Ali, Aamer Jamal and Sajid Khan
- IN – Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali
The biggest change comes in the bowling unit with the likes of Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi making their return to the side. Afridi was part of the tour Down Under but did not have an eventful outing.
Naseem on the other hand will be making his return to Test cricket after over a year. He had picked up a shoulder injury during the 2023 ODI World Cup. However, he made his return to the side in the recently concluded T20I World Cup and now will be making his comeback to the red-ball side.
Aamer Jamal had a decent outing against Australia. But he was ruled out of the series with the PCB citing fitness issues as the reason. With Agha Salman coming in as the lone spinner, Pakistan have also opted to do away with Sajid Khan. Mir Hamza who is known to be able to swing the ball has also given way to Mohammad Ali to form an all-pace attack.
Pakistan Cricket has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, but Shan Masood’s side has shown glimpses of their potential where they went down fighting against Australia earlier.
But now his side will be expected to take advantage of the home conditions and take down the Bangladesh side in dominant fashion with their star pairing of Shaheen and Naseem making their return to the side.
Pakistan’s Playing 11 for 1st Test vs BAN: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood (C), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (VC), Mohammad Rizwan (WK), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali
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