After Day 1 of the second Test was washed out due to incessant rain at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and opted to bowl first. Pakistan skipper Shan Masood made another major change to the side as he dropped young pacer Naseem Shah. After backlash following maiden Test defeat to Bangladesh, Masood included spinner Abrar Ahmed in the side. Another change in the side was Mir Hamza coming in for Shaheen Afridi.
“We would have bowled first with the wicket under covers. It's a 4-day game now. From the 12, we've rested Naseem, so Abrar and Mir Hamza come in for Shaheen and Naseem. He's (on Abrar) done well on green tracks, has got some help as well, so we're playing 3 pacers and two spinners,” Masood said at the coin toss.
Shanto made one forced change to the side as left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam had a niggle. Shoriful was replaced by a fit-again Taskin Ahmed.
“We will bowl first, there's some moisture and it should help our pacers. We played good cricket in the last match, but that was past and we're looking forward to this game. Shoriful has a niggle and he's replaced by Taskin,” Shanto said after winning the toss.
Bangladesh Playing XI: Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das(w), Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Nahid Rana
Pakistan Playing XI: Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Khurram Shahzad, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Ali, Mir Hamza
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Why Shaheen was dropped?
Earlier, head coach Jason Gillespie had revealed the reason behind dropped left-arm pacer Afridi. Gillespie said that he has had a clear communication with him.
“Shaheen missed out this game, I had good conversation with him. He fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind it . We are just looking at what our best combination is for this game and this is way want to go. As I said we will look at conditions in the morning in this side what the exact makeup of our bowling attack looks like,” said Gillespie in pre-match conference.
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