Host Pakistan has been named as the first of the two test matches against Bangladesh the day before the match will be played in Rawalpindi from Wednesday 21 August, only one day after England named its playing XI for the test series against Australia. The amazing thing is that not a single spinner from the team has a place in the playing XI. It happened 28 times before when the Pakistan cricket team played a home test without a spinner specialist. Captain Shan Masood included four fast bowlers in his playing XI.
The pair of openers for the first Test match will be Abdullah Shafiq and Sam Ayub. Captain Shan Masood will look to come in at number three, and following him will be Babar Azam at four, and vice-captain Saud Shakeel at number 5. Wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan and spin all-rounder Salman Ali will come in at seven. In the department of the ball, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali, and Khurram Shahzad will be spearheading the pace attack.
Pakistan's playing XI: Abdullah Shafiq, Sam Ayub, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha,.