Karachi: England Tuesday won the toss and elected to field first in the first Twenty20 International of six-match series that also marks the return of the English team to Pakistan after 17 years at National Stadium Karachi.

England captain Moeen Ali said: “It’s massive for us and massive for Pakistan as well. I’ve not been to Pakistan much in my life so to represent England as captain here is amazing,” he said.

Alex Hales made his return to the national side after three years which Moeen said was an amazing feat. “Alex Hales comes in after 3 years which is amazing for him.”

Fast bowler Luke Wood also got his England cap from Jos Buttler; he will be the only debutant for England in today’s game.

Pakistan captain Babar Azam said: “We’re looking to improve our skills. We sat together after the Asia Cup to work out areas of improvement. The wicket’s good, and we’ll try and put pressure on them.”

Shan Masood will debut for Pakistan in the T20 format while Shadab Khan and Asif Ali are missing the first game.

Pakistan: Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haider Ali, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Usman Qadir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shahnawaz Dahani

England Squad: Phil Salt (wk), Alex Hales, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Moeen Ali (capt), Sam Curran, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Richard Gleeson