KARACHI, AUG 7: Pakistan are "optimistic" about hosting Bangladesh for their Test series this month, a source close to the cricket board said Wednesday, after a second-string team delayed its arrival amid an unfolding political crisis back home.
Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid stepped down on Monday and fled the country following mass protests demanding her resignation.
The second tier team, known as the "A team", were due to arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday but pushed back their schedule to Saturday.
The national team are due to land on August 17 for two Tests -- the first in Rawalpindi from August 21 and the second in Karachi from August 30.
"The PCB is proceeding with the plans and optimistic that the Test series will go ahead as scheduled," a source close to the Pakistan Cricket Board said, asking not to be named.
In an official statement on Wednesday, the PCB said it "has been in contact with the Bangladesh Cricket Board".
It also announced a 17-man squad for the two Tests against the Bangladesh national team.
Opener Shan Masood will lead Pakistan's Test side which is loaded with six fast bowlers and has just one frontline spinner in Abrar Ahmed.
Middle-order batter Saud Shakeel replaced Shaheen Shah Afridi as vice captain aimed at managing the pacer's workload, with Pakistan scheduled to play nine Tests, 14 T20Is and, at least 17 ODIs in the next nine months.
Seven players from Pakistan's 3-0 series whitewash in Australia earlier this year -- Imam-ul-Haq, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Noman Ali and Sajid Khan -- have been dropped.
Squad: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal (subject to fitness), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi. —AFP
