Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bowl first against Pakistan in the first match of the New Zealand tri-series on Friday in Christchurch.
Regular Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan is not playing in this match. He joined the team on Thursday after playing in CPL.
Mehidy Hasan, the Bangladesh all-rounder, said Thursday that Shakib would play the first match. But the southpaw is not in the playing XI of the first match. And the team management has not revealed any reason.
In Shakib’s absence, Nurul Hasan Sohan tossed the coin for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh fielded three pacers in this match — Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Mustafizur Rahman, while Nasum Ahmed also found a place in the playing XI.
Before this series, Bangladesh played 16 T20Is against Pakistan and won only two of them.
Bangladesh: Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Litton Das, Nurul Hasan (C), Yasir Ali, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed
Pakistan: Babar Azam (C), Mohammad Rizwan, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Haider Ali, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani.
Source: United News of Bangladesh