Bangladesh chose to bowl in the first T20I against Zimbabwe in Chattogram
Sikandar Raza and Najmul Hossain Shanto with the series trophy • AFP/Getty Images
Bangladesh chose to bowl v Zimbabwe
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto chose to bowl in the first T20I against Zimbabwe in Chattogram. His counterpart Sikandar Raza, however, said his team was happy to bat.
Joylord Gumbie made his T20I debut for Zimbabwe as the visitors made two changes. Tony Munyonga and Tinashe Kamunhukamwe played Zimbabwe’s last T20I against Sri Lanka, but they were replaced by Gumbie and Ryan Burl.
Tanzid Hasan also made his T20I debut for Bangladesh, as they were without the injured Soumya Sarkar. Mustafizur Rahman was not yet part of Bangladesh’s squad for this series as he takes a break after the conclusion of his IPL stint with Chennai Super Kings. Mohammad Saifuddin was picked for his first international match since October 2022 after recovering from his back injury.
Bangladesh 1 Litton Das (wk), 2 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 3 Tanzid Hasan, 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mahedi Hasan, 7 Jaker Ali, 8 Mohammad Saifuddin, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Taskin Ahmed, 11 Shoriful Islam
Zimbabwe 1 Joylord Gumbie, 2 Craig Ervine, 3 Brian Bennet, 4 Sean Williams, 5 Sikandar Raza (capt), 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Clive Madande (wk), 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Wellington Masakadza, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
