CHITTAGONG: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Thursday announced their 12-player squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, which will be played at the Ch. Zahoor Ahmed Cricket Stadium, Chittagong on Friday.
According to a statement by the cricket board, veteran pacer Mohammad Abbas has been dropped from the squad while Abdullah Shafique was the surprise inclusion in the 12-member squad.
Here is the squad, led by skipper Babar Azam:
- Babar Azam – Captain
- Mohammad Rizwan – Vice captain (wicketkeeper)
- Abdullah Shafique
- Abid Ali
- Azhar Ali
- Faheem Ashraf
- Fawad Alam
- Hasan Ali
- Imam-ul-Haq
- Nauman Ali
- Sajid Khan
- Shaheen Shah Afridi
The match will see the two sides face off in the apex form of the game on Bangladeshi soil for the first time since May 2015, when Pakistan won a two-match series by completing a victory in the final Test by a mammoth 328 runs.
The second Test will commence from Saturday, 4 December at Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium Mirpur, Dhaka. Pakistan will start as overwhelming favourites after completing a clean sweep 3-0 in the preceding Twenty20 series.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh team is struggling with battling injuries and enters the series without two of their star players — Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.
All-rounder Shakib suffered a hamstring injury against the West Indies in Sharjah last month that ended his T20 World Cup, but he had been included in the Test squad in the hope that he would regain his fitness.
