Soon, on the back of their historic series win over Sri Lanka away from home, Bangladesh will host Pakistan in a three-match T20I series. The first match is scheduled to be played at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka, on Sunday, July 20. The remaining matches will also take place at the same venue. Bangladesh will be high on confidence after defeating Sri Lanka in unfamiliar conditions. They will look to dominate proceedings against Pakistan. Knowing how the pitch behaves in Dhaka will allow Bangladesh to select their best possible playing XI in this game. They will also aim to put the pressure on their opponents as soon as possible.
Pakistan are expected to field a new side, given that they are keen on preparing well ahead of the T20 World Cup next year. They have a lot of youngsters in their squad who will enjoy the challenge of being put through their paces in conditions away from home. Although the pitches in Bangladesh are not starkly different from those in Pakistan, the hot, humid, and sultry conditions in the former country are bound to surprise them. Both teams will be keen on getting onto the front foot as soon as possible. This, by the way, involves making use of the fielding restrictions inside the powerplay and taking the shine off the new ball.
Bangladesh captain Litton Das has embarked on his leadership journey with an impressive series win over Sri Lanka, and he will be keen on proving to his detractors that it was not a one-off occasion. Bangladesh must be sharp on the field and not give away easy runs or drop catches against Pakistan. Doing either of the two will prevent them from dictating terms to their opponents while allowing themselves to fall lower down the pecking order. The usage of spin will also become crucial in these conditions, and whichever team rolls the dice will end up having a big advantage.
Predicted Teams
BAN: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Litton Das (c & wk), Towhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman.
PAK: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Mohammad Haris (wk), Salman Agha (c), Hasan Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed.
Key Players
Mahedi Hasan (BAN): Off-spinner Mahedi Hasan was asked to bowl with the new ball against Sri Lanka in the series decider. He repaid the faith shown by his captain with a four-wicket haul (4-11). Hasan’s accurate lines and lengths have made him a tricky customer to face in white-ball cricket, and one can expect him to have a big say in this game as well. He will be high on confidence after his recent four-wicket haul.
Salman Agha (PAK): Captain Salman Agha, who is one of the most senior players in the Pakistan squad, will have to lead from the front in this match. The last series the Shaheens played was against Bangladesh in June earlier this year, which they won 3-0 at home. This time, Captain Agha will aim to replicate the same with his young team. He will have to fire with the bat, and will have a big role to play in rotating the strike as well as hitting it out of the park when the need arises.
Match Prediction
Bangladesh will win due to two major factors. The first is their expert knowledge of these conditions. The second factor is their confidence and morale boost after the series win in Sri Lanka. Their top-order batters have gone hard inside the powerplay recently, and this will be the reason why they will be able to dominate with just two fielders outside in this match as well. Pakistan must be very sharp while bowling to prevent Bangladesh from running away with the game.
