Misbah, Younis back for Bangladesh Test

Pakistan will be bolstered by the return of skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and veteran batsman Younis Khan when their two-Test series against Bangladesh kicks off in Khulna on Tuesday.

The tour has been disappointing for Pakistan so far, with a 3-0 whitewash in the one-day series followed by their first defeat by Bangladesh in a Twenty20 International.

The players were not part of the limited-overs squad with Misbah having retired from ODIs after the World Cup and Younis not selected.

Younis is only 506 runs away from becoming Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in Tests, with Javed Miandad’s tally of 8832 in his sights.

Image Id: ~/media/2FAEF00774744829891512D8C8FB88E8Younis Khan celebrates a century against New Zealand // Getty Images

Pakistan, who fielded a new-look ODI side featuring just four members of their World Cup squad after retirements and injuries, have selected a near-identical Test squad to the one that beat Australia 2-0 and drew with New Zealand 1-1 in the United Arab Emirates late last year.

“(Misbah and Younis) are very experienced and Pakistan have usually done well when they are around,” young Pakistan batsman Sami Aslam said ahead of the first Test.

“Both are world-class players and they are sure to make the difference in the series.

“Tests are entirely different and I am pretty confident my team will do better in this format.”

Aslam, who scored 45 in his one-day debut last week, is in line to play his first Test on Tuesday.

Bangladesh will aim to improve their Test record this year, having won just seven and lost 70 of their 88 matches since being granted full status in 2000.

Quick single: Tigers start brightly in defining year

They won a Test series against Zimbabwe 3-0 late last year and coach Chandika Hathurusinghe said Bangladesh currently had the confidence to compete with any team.

Image Id: ~/media/9FF28A502D924372A4E9C46B3821DC8FThe Tigers celebrate their ODI series whitewash // Getty

“Our expectation is to win every series that we go into,” Hathurusinghe said.

“That doesn’t mean that we are over-confident and we take our opposition for granted, it’s all about our confidence that we are trying to do our best.

“Pakistan are one of the very strong teams with many experienced players coming into their Test squad.

“They have been really doing well in Tests, so for us it’s a big challenge.”

Wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim will skipper the Bangladesh Test team, taking the reins from limited-overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza.

The second Test will be played in Dhaka from May 6 to 10.

Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Litton Das, Mominul Haque, Sakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Shuvagata Hom, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Jubair Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain and Mohammad Shahid.

Pakistan squad: Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Sami Aslam, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Haris Sohail, Saeed Ajmal, Yasir Shah, Zulfiqar Babar, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Imran Khan.