NEWS
Follow UsPakistan have announced their playing XI for the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, starting August 21 (Wednesday). The Men in Green have four changes from the last Test they played – the New Year’s Test against Australia in Sydney.
While the batting line-up is the same, Pakistan have overhauled their bowling attack. Consequently, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah are back to bolster their bowling attack. Shaheen was rested for the SCG Test while Naseem missed the tour due to injury.
The right-arm medium-pacer Khurram Shahzad returns as well. He made his Test debut in the first Test against Australia in Perth, where he had match figures of 5/128 but was dropped for the subsequent two fixtures.
Mohammed Ali, another right-arm medium-pacer, comes in at number 11, having played two Tests for Pakistan before in December 2022.
Thus, Pakistan will be fielding a four-pronged pace attack with Salman Ali Agha as the only spin-bowling option. Leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed was released from the squad earlier.
Sajid Khan, Aamer Jamal, Mir Hamza and Hasan Ali miss out from the Sydney Test. Only Hamza and Jamal were part of Pakistan’s 17-man squad for the series. Jamal, failing to recover from a back injury, will be a big miss for the hosts. The bowling all-rounder was Pakistan’s highest wicket-taker on the tour where they lost 0-3. He snapped 18 wickets alongside scoring 143 runs, including a half-century.
There was much debate about the pitches for the series, as Pakistan lost their last two Test series at home on flatter surfaces against Australia and England. This is the first time that Pakistan will be playing without a specialist spinner in a home Test in the 21st century.
The second Test will also be played in Rawalpindi, starting August 30, after it was moved out of Karachi due to ongoing construction at the National Cricket Stadium for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
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