Pakistan captain Babar Azam won the draw and chose to pitch first in the first T20I of the three-game series against England at Emirates Old Trafford.
Eoin Morgan, the England captain, admitted that he would also have chosen to go bowling first on a surface that has been covered for most of the day after the heavy rains in Manchester.
While the Pakistan team boasts five spinning jeeps, including Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik, who debuted together in this format at Pakistan’s first T20I 14 years ago against the same opposition, on a surface that traditionally favors spinning, the weather conditions. it may be more to the liking of seamers. Mohammad Amir and Haris Rauf make their first appearances on the tour, while Shaheen Afridi is one of three men from Pakistan to have appeared in the third test as well as this game.
With Jason Roy injured, Tom Banton will start for England with Jonny Bairstow. Dawid Malan retains his place – he was on the team the last time England played a T20I in South Africa – and Lewis Gregory wins the battle for the off-road spot ahead of David Willey. There was no place for Joe Denly.
England 1 Tom Banton 2 Jonny Bairstow (week) 3 Dawid Malan 4 Eoin Morgan (capt) 5 Sam Billings 6 Moeen Ali 7 Lewis Gregory 8 Tom Curran 9 Chris Jordan 10 Adil Rashid 11 Saqib Mahmood
Pakistan 1 Babar Azam (captain), 2 Fakhar Zaman, 3 Mohammad Hafeez, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Mohammad Rizwan (week), 6 Iftikhar Ahmed, 7 Shadab Khan, 8 Imad Wasim, 9 Mohammad Amir, 10 Shaheen Afridi, 11 Haris Rauf
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