Pak vs Ban: Two key players excluded from Pakistan squad for first T20I

Dunya News

Pakistan name squad for first T20I against Bangladesh

DHAKA (Dunya News) -  Pakistan today announced their 12-player squad for the first T20I against Bangladesh, which will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Friday.

According to press release issued by PCB, Babar Azam  will lead the squad as captain and Shadab Khan will remain vice captain. 

Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jr., Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shoaib Malik are also part of the squad.

For the first T20I, Muhammad Asif and Imad Waseem have been excluded from the team. 

Pakistan will take on host nation Bangladesh on Friday for the first match of the three-match T20I series in Dhaka. More than 12,500 cricket fans are expected to turn-up at the stadium for the series opener.

Following the opener, the two sides will play on 20 and 22 November at the same venue. The visitors are playing their first bilateral series in Bangladesh in more than five years.

The two sides have clashed in 12 T20Is, Pakistan have won 10 out of the matches with Bangladesh recording both their wins at the same venue in the one-off T20I in 2015 and the 2016 Asia Cup encounter.

Shoaib Malik is also the second most runs getter from Pakistan against Bangladesh in this format. He has 208 run with an avg. of 34.66 which includes one half-century.

Opening duo of Pakistan Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are taking all records under their belt. Babar Azam has scored fastest 2500 T20I runs in just 62 innings. He broke the World record of Virat Kohli who crossed the milestone in 68 T20I’s innings.

On the other hand, Mohammad Rizwan is the highest T20I runs getter in a calendar year. He has scored 1033 runs in 23 matches with an avg. of 86.08 and strike rate of 136.45. It includes a century and 10 half centuries.