Towhid Hridoy debuts as Tigers opt to bowl in T20I series opener against England

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has won the toss and elected to bowl first against England in the first match of the three-match T20I series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.

The two sides will lock horns in the shortest format after the ODI series went 2-1 in England's favour after the visitors were denied a clean series sweep by a spirited all-round show by Shakib in the final ODI in Chattagram.

Reigning T20 champions England will feature in a T20I match for the first time since winning the World Cup in Australia last year and will also play the Tigers in a bilateral series for the first time.

The Tigers, beginning their second journey under head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, have fielded a debutant in Towhid Hridoy in their playing eleven, rewarding the top-order batter for his performance in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Alongside Towhid, batters Rony Talukdar -- playing his second T20I after having returned to national T20 side after almost eight years -- and Shamim Hossain also made the cut, courtesy of their BPL show.   

Playing XIs: 

Bangladesh: Rony Talukdar, Liton Das(w), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Shamim Hossain, Afif Hossain, Towhid Hridoy, Taskin Ahmed, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud

England: Jos Buttler(w/c), Philip Salt, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood