Pakistan to field three pacers in Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh

Pakistan will field three fast bowlers in the first Test match of the two-match series against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi, starting on August 21, Geo News reported quoting sources as saying.

The well-placed sources said that the Pakistan team would field one spinner and three fast bowlers, namely Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Mir Hamza, as the Rawalpindi ground pitch will be suitable for fast bowlers.

Two ICC World Test Championship fixtures will be played between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Rawalpindi and Karachi from August 21 to 25 and August 30 to September 3, respectively.

Regarding the batting order, the sources said that Test captain Shan Masood will play at number three while former captain Babar Azam will bat at number four.

They also said that Abdullah Shafiq's position as an opener was not under threat, while Mohammad Huraira was a strong candidate to make his Test debut.

Bangladesh men's cricket team arrived in Lahore from Dhaka on August 13 to play the two-match Test series against Pakistan.

The team was taken to a private hotel under strict security arrangements from the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore.

Squads

Pakistan: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal (subject to fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mahmudullah, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan. Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Khaled Ahmed.