Shawdesh desk:

Bangladesh won the toss and elected to bowl first against South Africa in the two-match Test series opener at Kingsmead in Durban on Thursday.

Tamim is out of squad due to a stomach ache this morning. He is in the hotel, being attended by a doctor. Meanwhile, Shoriful Islam is out due to minor niggles, and is being rested.

The Tigers previously lost all six Tests including a five innings defeat against the hosts during their previous three tours to the African nation.

However, despite having a similar record in the ODIs, they recently clinched their maiden ODI series against them at their own den and it made the Tigers confident to repeat the same performance in the Tests, which will also be part of the ICC World Test Championship.

The Mominul Haque-led side will also be charged up with their recent Test performances which included earning their maiden Test win over New Zealand at their own den.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, will miss the service of their ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan in the first Test as he returned home to be with his ill family members after the ODI series.

Bangladesh: 1 Mominul Haque, 2 Shadman Islam, 3 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 4 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Yasir Ali, 7 Litton Das (wk), 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Khaled Ahmed, 11 Ebadot Hossain

South Africa: 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Sarel Erwee, 3 Kegan Petersen, 4 Temba Bavuma, 5 Ryan Rickleton, 6 Kyle Verreynne (wk), 7 Wiaan Mulder, 8 Keshav Maharaj, 9 Simon Harmer, 10 Lizaad Williams, 11 Duanne Olivier