Published: Apr 21, 2015, 11:04 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 21, 2015, 12:30 PM (IST)
Bangladesh cricket of late has been the in line limelight for both positive and negative reasons. Since their memorable ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 campaign, on field, they had lots of positivity to showcase but thanks to their over enthusiastic fans and administrators, some needless off-field controversies were created, and the hardwork of the cricketers were overshadowed. But Mashrafe Mortaza‘s boys are back on track with a historic series win against Pakistan, as they now go for the kill, a white-wash or as they say, ‘Bangla-wash’. READ: Mashrafe Mortaza eyes whitewash after clinching series win
On Wednesday Mortaza-led Bangladesh will take on a dejected and depleted Pakistan side with an intention of a clean sweep. Keeping the strengths of the hosts and limitations of the Azhar Ali-led Pakistan in mind, Bangladesh will look to register their third whitewash at home. They previous one were came against New Zealand. But the flavour of routing Pakistan will be different. READ: Bangladesh seal series 2-0 with 7-wicket win
In the previous two games of this series, Bangladesh looked too strong for this new-look Pakistani side, with the latter getting outplayed in both games. It is hard to imagine that the victory in the first game of the series came after a gap of one and half decade. The record 178-run partnership of two senior players, Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim on that game has to credited for that. Iqbal again backed it up with a match-winning hundred during Bangladesh’s chase in the second One-Day International (ODI). So whether he can get three tons on a trot, will be one of things to watch out for in the third and final ODI. READ: Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim share best-ever stand for Bangladesh
In bowling, left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny has emerged as a hero. His inspired spell in both games did not allow the Pakistan batsmen to get away. Another brilliant spell in the third game might cement his place for the first Test, which is schedule to start next week. Amongst other bowlers, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain were impressive as usual.
For Pakistan, problems are plenty. In batting their top order is not firing. In bowling their fast bowlers were not as effective as they were expected to be. Also Saeed Ajmal is looking like a below average bowler with a changed action. So captain Azhar, and coach Waqar Younis have to take some tough decisions. Umar Gul might get a game to add bit of experience in the bowling. Pakistan need to win one game atleast to salvage some pride. Can they do it? Highly unlikely. READ: Javed Miandad slams Pakistan’s series loss
Squads:
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Rony Talukdar, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Abul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Arafat Sunny
Pakistan: Azhar Ali (c), Sami Aslam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mohammad Hafeez, Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan, Haris Sohail, Sohaib Maqsood, Saeed Ajmal, Zulfiqur Babar, Wahab Riaz, Rahat Ali, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan.
Time: 14:00 IST | 08:30 GMT | 14:30 Local
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting, and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
