Bangladesh face 'setback' ahead of first Test against Pakistan

As Bangladesh gears up to face Pakistan in the first Test, they have suffered a blow with key batter Mahmudul Hasan Joy ruled out of the two-match series, according to a Cricbuzz report on Saturday.

Joy sustained a groin injury while fielding and was unable to bat in the second innings of the four-day match against Pakistan Shaheens in Islamabad.

The 23-year-old batter impressed with 65 runs in the first innings against the Shaheens and had shown promising form, scoring 69 and 65 runs in the High-Performance Unit's previous four-day matches, ahead of the series.

"We received a report stating that Mahmudul suffered an injury to his right groin, and as a result, he will be rested for three weeks," confirmed BCB chief physician Debashish Chowdhury to Cricbuzz.

The Test matches between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, with both teams aiming to strengthen their positions on the WTC points table.

The first Test is scheduled to begin on August 21 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

**Squads:**

**Pakistan:** Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel, Aamir Jamal (subject to fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi.

**Bangladesh:** Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mahmudullah, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Khaled Ahmed.

**Series Schedule:**

- 1st Test: August 21-25 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
- 2nd Test: August 30 - September 4 at Karachi's National Stadium