Pakistan and Bangladesh, who have been knocked out of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy, will take each other on in an inconsequential fixture in Rawalpindi. The game will be on Thursday, February 27. They are a part of Group A along with India and New Zealand but no longer have much to play for and will not qualify for the semifinals. India and New Zealand have made it to the semifinals already, and all that Pakistan and Bangladesh have to play for here is pride.
Both teams have lost both matches they have played so far, against India and New Zealand. It will only be a matter of some consolation that they will not end the tournament winless. Pakistan, as the hosts, will be deeply hurt by how they got knocked out of the tournament. Their arch-rivals, India, caused enough reason for them to get knocked out. Incidentally, Pakistan had beaten India in the final of the 2017 edition of the tournament, held in England.
In this game, Bangladesh can be expected to have an upper hand as they have a good mix of youth and experience in their team. On the other hand, Pakistan don’t quite have many experienced players in their ranks, save Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. Both players seem to be out of scrutiny due to their recent performances. Rizwan, the Pakistan ODI team’s captain, will be judged based on how he leads his team in this tournament. He clearly hopes to pick up at least a win here.
Bangladesh possess a good spin attack, whereas Pakistan rely heavily on pace. The mixture of these tactics will be exciting to watch, as Rawalpindi’s pitch is usually favourable for batting. Both teams’ batters will be interested in putting up big scores and especially making use of the powerplay, which the fielding restrictions are on. They can also play expansive strokes without the fear of getting caught in the deep. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh have not been at their best in this tournament. This game will showcase which team has the gall to overcome the challenges coming their way.
Predicted Squads
BAN: Nazmul Hossain Shanto (c), Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), MD Mahmud Ullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Nahid Rana.
PAK: Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
Key Players
Shaheen Afridi (PAK): Seamer Shaheen Afridi, who was given the captaincy and then cruelly taken out of it, has a lot of points to prove in this tournament, both to his detractors and his supporters. Although Pakistan are out of the tournament, Afridi can play a vital role in resurrecting their hopes. He will be crucial in getting the ball back into the right-handers. His toe-crushing yorkers are searing and extremely hard to play. Afridi is also good with the old ball as he is known to get it to reverse and use his wide range of slower deliveries and cutters.
Towhid Hridoy (BAN): Towhid Hridoy has slowly but surely etched himself in Bangladeshi cricket folklore. That century he scored against India in his team’s opening encounter of the tournament helped his cause immensely. Hridoy is a batter who can make use of the fielding restrictions if he bats till the end. He can also rotate the strike well by placing the ball into the gaps. Hridoy is an all-round package in the middle-order for Bangladesh; it will be interesting to see how he fares against Pakistan’s famed pace bowling attack.
Match Prediction
Pakistan have an upper hand over Bangladesh in this game, although they are not exactly the favourites to win it. Still, owing to their superior bench strength, they might edge out Bangladesh by the end of this evening. The Shaheens will be seething at being knocked out of a tournament they have been hosting and hope to take all their anger out on the Bangla Tigers, who have expectedly not made it to the playoffs. Still, what was not expected from Bangladesh was their lack of fight, and one hopes that this will change in this match.
