Pakistan coach Waqar Younis expects Azhar Ali to perform in remaining two Tests against England
Waqar Younis said that apart from being the captain of Pakistan, Azhar Ali is also a top-order batsman and, thus, plays a double role in the team.
Pakistan skipper Azhar Ali on Friday won the toss and opted to bowl first against Bangladesh in the first Test of the two-match series between the sides at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
The next Test will be played at National Stadium in Karachi starting April 5. However, before that a one-off ODI will be played between the two sides on April 3 at the same venue where the second Test match is scheduled to be played.
After the first Test, the Bangla Tigers will host Zimbabwe in one-off Test, followed by 3 ODIs and 3 T20Is, starting February 22.
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Talking about Bangladesh’s tour so far, Pakistan won the recently-concluded T20I series against the guests 2-0.
Pakistan won the first T20I by 5 wickets. Getting an invitation to bowl first, the Green Brigade restricted Bangladesh to 141 for 5 in 20 overs before chasing down the target with 3 balls to spare.
Pakistan sealed the series in the second T20I which they won by 9 wickets. Getting an invitation to bowl a second time in the series, Pakistan kept Bangladesh to a below-par score of 136 for 6 before chasing down the target with 20 balls to spare.
However, the third and final match was abandoned due to rain.
Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams for the first Test:
Pakistan: Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali (captain), Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Yasir Shah, Mohammad Abbas, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque (captain), Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Liton Das (wicketkeeper), Taijul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Abu Jayed, Ebadot Hossain
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