Saif makes debut as Bangladesh choose to bat first

Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah (2nd L) and Pakistan captain Babar Azam (2nd R) during the toss of the first Twenty20 International match against visiting Pakistan at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, on 19 November 2021Twitter Handle Pakistan Cricket

Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Twenty20 International match against visiting Pakistan at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, on Friday.

This will be the first match the Tigers will be playing since their shambolic performance in the ICC T20 World Cup earlier this month. The team could not win any match in the Super 12 stage of the World Cup. This has brought a number of changes in the team as the cricket governing body looks to future.

Bangladesh are playing leg-spinner Aminul Islam and three pace bowlers -- Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam in the match. Saif Hassan makes his debut in the match while Najmul Hossain Shanto returns into the team after a long time. He played his last T20I match against New Zealand at Auckland on 1 April.

Security personnel search spectators arriving to watch the first Twenty20 international cricket match between Bangladesh and Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on 19 November 2021
AFP

Shakib Al Hasan is not featuring in the squad due to injury while veteran Mushfiqur Rahim has been “rested” as “fresh Mushfiqur will be required in the coming Test series against Pakistan and New Zealand,” said chief selector Mihajul Abedin Nannu.

The selectors axed Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar for their performances in the recently concluded T20 World Cup.

Pakistan has chosen to rest Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Local fans for the first time are allowed to witness the match live from the stadium since the start of the pandemic. Around 50 per cent of tickets against the stadium’s capacity are available for the fans who have been inoculated twice with Covid-19 vaccine.

Teams

Bangladesh: 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Saif Hassan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mahmudullah (capt), 5 Afif Hossain, 6 Nurul Hasan (wk), 7 Shoriful Islam, 8 Taskin Ahmed, 9 Aminul Islam, 10 Mahedi Hasan, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Pakistan: 1 Babar Azam (capt), 2 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Haider Ali, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Hasan Ali, 10 Haris Rauf, 11 Mohammad Wasim Jr