CHATTOGRAM – Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat first against Pakistan in the opening Test in Chattogram on Friday.
Yasir Ali earned his first cap for Bangladesh, and Abdullah Shafique will make his debut for the visitors.
Bangladesh’s batting line-up is expected to be led by captain Mominul Haque and the veteran Mushfiqur Rahim. The hosts are missing injured Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan, as well as Mahmudullah, who just retired, leaving a large hole to fill.
In order to put together an opening combination, Pakistan’s middle order must be forceful. Azhar Ali and skipper Babar Azam provide skill and experience, while Mohammad Rizwan and Fawad Alam provide important runs at the bottom of the order. The opening success of Babar and Rizwan in T20Is will have to be turned into middle-order dependence in Tests.
Pakistan will bowl with Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali, with Faheem Ashraf regarded the pace-bowling allround option at No 7. The spinners are left-arm spinner Nauman Ali and offspinner Sajid Khan, who made his debut against Zimbabwe earlier this year.
Pakistan has played three series in Bangladesh and won five of the six Tests, the most recent of which being a 328-run victory in Dhaka in May 2015. Only Azhar Ali and Mushfiqur Rahim from both teams took part in the match.