Star batsman Babar Azam will stay at No. 4 in the batting order as Pakistan announced their playing XI for the Rawalpindi first Test against Bangladesh. Babar batted at No. 3 for the most of his early Test career, and there were rumors that the right-hander may go back there under new coach Jason Gillespie.

The No. 3 rated Test batsman, Babar, will remain at second drop for Pakistan's opening match of the team's vital ICC World Test Championship series against Bangladesh at home, as the team resists the temptation to shift him. This implies that Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique will begin the batting in the first Test, which starts on Wednesday. Babar will bat at his preferred position of No. 4 and skipper Shan Masood would come in at No. 3. Pakistan will use a four-player pace attack consisting of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad, and Mohammad Ali.