Pakistan v Bangladesh: Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik join team after testing negative for COVID-19

DHAKA: Pakistani cricket team captain Babar Azam and all-rounder Shoaib Malik have joined the national squad for the Pakistan vs Bangladesh series after testing negative for COVID-19.

Both players joined the squad at the team hotel in the Bangladeshi capital on Tuesday. You will attend the training session today (Wednesday) with other members of the team. The national team will have a full three-hour training session today at 1:45 p.m. local time.

The three-game T20 series against Bangladesh begins on November 19th. In the meantime Mohammad Rizwan is fully fit again and was part of the training at the Mirpur Cricket Academy. The racket suffered from a chest infection during the T20 World Cup and played the semi-finals after two nights in hospital.

"The players spent three hours training, hitting, bowling, pitching and being watched during exercise," said one team official. The second and third T20 international matches against Bangladesh will take place in Dhaka on November 20 and 22. The games will be day-night, with fans returning to the gallery in Bangladesh for the first time since March 2020.

Pakistan will also play two friendly matches during its visit to Bangladesh.

Bangladesh's T20 squad for the Pakistan series

Right batsman Mushfiqur Rahim was spared the three-game T20I series against Pakistan. He came under fire for his underperformance at the recent T20 World Cup, having scored in eight games for just half a century.

Bangladesh had a bleak tournament, losing to Scotland in qualifying and not winning a single game in the Super 12 stage.

They had to make at least six changes in the squad for the upcoming series, with the all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan and Mohammad Saifuddin dropped out due to injury. Batters Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar were deposed for the series against the World Cup semi-finalists and the fast bowler Rubel Hossain.

Read More: Recovered Rizwan Eyes regained more batting glory in Bangladesh

Those recalled to the side include batsman Najmul Hossain Shanto and leg spinner Aminul Islam Biplob. There were also first T20 calls for the U19 world champion captain Akbar Ali - a wicketkeeper - the bats Saif Hassan and Yasir Ali Chowdhury as well as the pace bowler Shohidul Islam.

Squad: Mahmudullah Riyad (captain), Mohammad Naim, Najmul Hossain, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Shamim Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Saif Hassan, Yadulir Ali, Shohi Islam , Akbar Ali.