Toss Bangladesh chose to bat v Pakistan

Bangladesh opted to bat at the Gaddafi Stadium in the first T20I. Mahmudullah had no hesitation putting Pakistan out in the field; Pakistan lost all three T20Is at this venue against Sri Lanka when they were asked to chase. Rubel Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz sat out for the visitors as they looked to inflict a seventh consecutive T20I loss upon the hosts.

Azam admitted he would have liked to bat too; the surface looked flat and devoid of any moisture at the start of the match. Pakistan handed debuts to Ahsan Ali and Haris Rauf, while Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez returned to the side once more. Mohammad Hasnain also came back; Pakistan are yet to win an international in which the fast bowler has featured.

Pakistan: 1 Ahsan Ali, 2 Babar Azam (capt.), 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Iftikhar Ahmed, 6 Imad Wasim, 7 Mohammad Rizwan (wk), 8 Shadab Khan, 9 Haris Rauf, 10 Shaheen Afridi 11 Mohammad Hasnain

Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Mohammad Naim, 3 Afif Hossain, 4 Liton Das (wk), 5 Mahmudullah (capt.), 6 Soumya Sarkar, 7 Mohammad Mithun, 8 Aminul Islam, 9 Shafiul Islam, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Al-Amin Hossain