Pakistan vs Bangladesh Match officials for Test series announced

The Pakistan vs Bangladesh Test series part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship will be played later this month. The first Test will be played from August 21-25 in Rawalpindi. The second Test will be played in Karachi from August 30 to September 3.

Pakistan's training camp will commence at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on 11 August and will be supervised by red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie and assistant coach Azhar Mahmood. The Bangladesh cricket team is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad in the wee hours of 17 August and is expected to train in the same afternoon.

Meanwhile, the match officials for the Test series have been announced. Former Sri Lankan cricketer Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee. For the Test series, there are two umpires from England, one from South Africa and two from Pakistan.

England’s Richard Kettleborough will be the on-field umpire alongside South Africa’s Adrian Holdstock for the Rawalpindi Test. England’s Michael Gough will be the third umpire, while Rashid Riaz of Pakistan will act as a fourth umpire.

For the second Test in Karachi, Michael Gough and Adrian Holdstock will perform the duties of on-field umpires, while Richard Kettleborough will serve as a third umpire. Asif Yaqoob from Pakistan will be available as the fourth umpire in the Test match.

Also Read: Salman Butt kicks aside Rohit Sharma as he names India's best player of spin-bowling

Pakistan vs Bangladesh Test Series in Rawalpindi, Karachi

Speaking about the standings of the top teams in the WTC points table, Pakistan are placed fifth on the table while Bangladesh is eighth. Pakistan won the first two Test matches against Sri Lanka and lost their next two against Australia.

Bangladesh so far have won just one Test match against New Zealand. They lost the next to the Kiwis followed by two more losses against Sri Lanka. Against Pakistan, they faced another stiff test in turning conditions preferably.

Meanwhile, with all the political turmoil in Bangladesh at the moment, Bangladesh Cricket Board's chief executive, Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that they are in discussion with PCB regarding the Bangladesh players reaching Pakistan early.

Reports in Cricbuzz said that the PCB is likely to host Bangladesh for a few extra days in Rawalpindi along with providing them the requirements for training.

"Reaching Pakistan early for practice purposes is part of discussion but we haven't taken any decision in this regard because we have to talk to the interim government before making a final call," Chowdhury told Cricbuzz.

Meanwhile, Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, who is set to become the chief adviser to the interim government was to reportedly reach Bangladesh by Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, BCB cricket operations in-charge Shahriar Nafees said that he was not sure of how soon the players stay training for the series, however, he is satisfied with the arrangements.

"The biggest concern for us was to begin practice after the last 2-3 days' situation. By the praise of the Almighty, we started today. We weren't sure about the training facilities since the groundsmen couldn't work in the last 3-4 days. But we saw everything was in order" said Nafees.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board further said that they are likely to get in touch with Shakib Al Hasan who is currently playing in the Global T20 league in Canada. He further said that amid the ongoing political tension in Bangladesh, Shakib is no longer politically connected and is only an international cricketer now.

"Shakib Al Hasan's NOC is till August 12. On August 13, he is supposed to return to the country and report to us. He still has two to three matches remaining and we will communicate with him and try to know his plans. Shakib is a cricketer now. Yesterday night, as per the President's order, Shakib is no longer an MP" said Nafees.

Also Read: Ravichandran Ashwin included as Rangana Herath picks best spinners of the current generation