Nov 19, 2021: The Men in Green look will be looking to continue their form against Bangladesh as the two teams will face each other in the first match of the three-match Twenty20 International series in Dhaka today.

The clash will take place at 1 p.m. PST. Both teams participated in the practice session before their first face-to-face meeting yesterday. Earlier, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had announced a 12-member squad for today’s T20. Captain Babar Azam will lead the team while Shadab Khan will be the vice captain. Pakistan fielded the same line-up in all six World Cup matches and retained almost the same squad for the Bangladesh series.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, cricket fans will be returning to the stands in Bangladesh after lock down was imposed in March 2020.

After the T20 series, Pakistan will also play two Test matches during their tour. The two teams will play their second and third T20Is at the same venue on 20 and 22 November respectively.

Babar’s team reached the semi final in the T20 World Cup with five consecutive victories in the Super 12 stage of the ICC T20 World Cup, before losing to Australia by five wickets in the semi-finals.

From the World Cup squad, Mohammad Hafeez is the only player who has been dropped from the team, and Iftikhar Ahmed has been included in the squad in his place. Bangladesh are missing a number of senior players who have been sidelined with injuries or rested after a devastating World Cup campaign, where they failed to win a single Super 12 match.

Talking to reporters ahead of the game, Babar Azam said, “Momentum has always been important in cricket and we would like to maintain that momentum,”

The current world number one T20 and ODI ranking batsman said that Pakistan will not take Bangladesh lightly. “Despite the absence of senior players in the team, the cricketers who are currently part of the squad have the experience to play in the Bangladesh Premier League,” Azam said. “So we will play with confidence throughout the series.”

Babar Azam said that Pakistan has next six matches against Bangladesh and West Indies, adding that the team will experiment with different combinations during the matches.

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