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On the second day of the second Test at Rawalpindi, the teams were met with a bright and sunny morning after the first day’s rain had washed out the first one. In the current four-day Test match, Bangladeshi captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and made the bold decision to bowl first against a Pakistani team without both Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
“There is a little bit of moisture in the pitch that should help our seamers,” Shanto said. Bangladesh made one change to the side that won the first Test. A fit-again Taskin Ahmed replaced Shoriful Islam, who is out with a groin niggle.
“We would have also bowled first, as the pitch has been under the covers,” Pakistan captain Shan Masood said. “There is a little bit more grass coverage on this pitch.”
Pakistan, who had excluded Afridi from their XI team, also “rested” Naseem. They were replaced by left-arm seamer Mir Hamza and legspinner Abrar Ahmed. Abrar is the most seasoned of Pakistan’s front-line bowlers, having played in six Tests.
After defeating Pakistan in the previous game to win their first Test, Bangladesh now leads the two-match series 1-0. They would have achieved a rare away series victory with a win or a draw here.
Pakistan: 1 Abdullah Shafique, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Shan Masood (capt), 4 Babar Azam, 5 Saud Shakeel, 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 7 Salman Ali Agha, 8 Abrar Ahmed, 9 Mir Hamza, 10 Mohammad Ali, 11 Khurram Shahzad
Bangladesh: 1 Shadman Islam, 2 Zakir Hasan, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 4 Mominul Haque, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Shakib Al Hasan, 7 Litton Das (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Hasan Mahmud, 11 Nahid Rana