First T20I: Pakistan opt to bat against Bangladesh

Lahore: After winning the toss, Green Shirts have decided to bat against Bangladesh in the first of the three-match T20I series at the Gaddafi Stadium on Wednesday.

Speaking at the toss, Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha said his side would bat first to put early pressure on the opposition.

“We are going to bat first and try to score above par, and try to put pressure on them. I think it’s a good wicket. It doesn’t change much, but I just wanted to put scoreboard pressure on them,” he said.

The Pakistan skipper acknowledged that selecting the playing XI was a challenging task, given the form of all 16 players in the squad. “It was a tough decision to make XI, because the 16 we have, they all are in very good form, and they had a great PSL,” he noted.

Playing XIs

Pakistan made six changes to their lineup that featured in the five-match away T20I series against New Zealand in March, while Bangladesh are fielding the same side that suffered a 2-1 series defeat against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this month.

Pakistan playing XI

Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wk), Salman Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf and Abrar Ahmed.

Bangladesh

Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Litton Das (c), Towhid Hridoy, Mahedi Hasan, Jaker Ali (wk), Shamim Hossain, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam.