PAK vs BAN: Pakistan has announced its playing XI for the first Test match against Bangladesh. The first match of this series will be played on 21 August in Rawalpindi.
The first match of the two-Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be played on August 21. Pakistan has announced its playing eleven for this match. This match will be played in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Some important changes have been made in the team, in which Amer Jamal, Abrar Ahmed and Kamran Ghulam have been dropped from the team. The Pakistan team will be captained by Shan Masood, who became the Test captain at the end of last year. This will be his second series as captain and his first on home ground.
Saud Shakeel has been made the vice-captain. The team will field four fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Ali, while Salman Ali Agha will take charge of spin. Veteran wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed has been kept on the bench. Pakistan's Test team will take the field for the first time since their 0-3 defeat against Australia earlier this year. However, Pakistan's Test record against Bangladesh has been excellent. It has won 12 out of the 13 Test matches played so far, while one match was drawn. The last time the two teams faced each other was in 2021, in which Pakistan won 2-0.
This Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh is also important in terms of the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC). Pakistan are currently placed sixth with two wins from three matches, while Bangladesh are second-lowest with one win from four matches. This Test match is important for Pakistan, especially after a disappointing 2024 T20 World Cup campaign where the team was eliminated in the first round.
Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
