RAWALPINDI: Test of the two-match series scheduled to begin tomorrow (Friday) at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Pakistan.
Bangladesh have had a woeful 2019 and are desperate to start off the new year with improved performance. Pakistan, on the other hand, have just broken through by playing their first Test at home since 2009, and are also looking to establish themselves for the rest of 2020.
Bangladesh was originally scheduled to play three Twenty20 Internationals and two Test matches, but agreed to split the tour into three phases because it did not want to stay in Pakistan for a longer duration due to security concerns.
The side will return to Pakistan in April for a one-off One-day International and the second and final Test at the National Stadium in Karachi.
Pakistan won the T20 series 2-0 last month at Lahore, with the third game abandoned because of rain.
Bangladesh lost 3-0 to Pakistan in its last test series in 2003, which included the home teams nail biting one-wicket victory at Multan.
Leading Bangladesh player Mushfiqur Rahim, who didn’t travel to Pakistan for last month’s Twenty20 series, has also opted out of the Test match at Rawalpindi.
Bangladesh is the second Test country to tour Pakistan since the resumption of international cricket.
Team news
Pakistan have plenty of options in their bowling line-up after they included offspinner Bilal Asif and allrounder Faheem Ashraf but they probably won’t be tempted to change a winning combination.
Pakistan (likely): 1 Shan Masood, 2 Abid Ali, 3 Azhar Ali (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 6 Haris Sohail, 7 Asad Shafiq, 8 Yasir Shah, 9 Mohammad Abbas, 10 Naseem Shah, 11 Shaheen Afridi
Pitch and Conditions
The forecast for these five days is better than December when most of the Pakistan-Sri Lanka game was washed out. The pitch is likely to favour the batsmen although Bangladesh are anticipating a lot more bounce than they get at home.
Stats and Trivia
Pakistan have not won a Test in Rawalpindi for 23 years, having lost three of the last four to Australia (1998), Sri Lanka (2000) and India (2004).
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