London [UK]: Hosts England have won the toss and opted to bowl first in their opening game of the Champions Trophy campaign againt Bangladesh here at the Kennington Oval on Thursday.
After winning the toss, England skipper Eoin Morgan suggested that there might be something in the pitch owing to the morning start.
Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza, on the other hand, revealed that he too had considered to bowl, had he won the toss.
“We have to make a decent total and fielding will be important,” Mortaza added.
Jake Ball has been included in the Playing XI, replacing leg-break bowler Adil Rashid.
Bangladesh have left out Mehedi Hasan. Rubel Hossain is the third seamer in the team.
Going into the match, Bangladesh would be brimming with confidence as they have won four of their last seven ODI games versus England.
Bangladesh have also won back-to-back ODI games (Ireland and New Zealand) ahead of this encounter with England, and if they manage to claim victory in this match, it’ll be the first time they’ve won three in a row outside of Bangladesh since 2009 (five in succession).
Meanwhile, England are heading into the tournament having won six of their last seven ODI series, including the last three in a row.
England have also registered victories in eight of their last 10 ODI matches at the Oval; also, they claimed a 10-wicket win in the only previous such encounter against Bangladesh at the famous venue (June 2005).
Bangladesh are appearing in the Champions Trophy group stage for the first time since 2004, while England have progressed beyond the group stage in three of their last four attempts.
Bangladesh Playing XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim,Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman.
England Playing XI: Jason Roy, Alex Hales, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan (capt), Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Liam Plunkett, Mark Wood, Jake Ball (ANI)