Published: Apr 23, 2015, 02:14 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 23, 2015, 03:43 PM (IST)
Bangladesh and Pakistan will take on each other in colour-clothings one more time in this ongoing tour.This time it will be a one-off T20 International (T20I) which will be played at Dhaka on Friday. After winning the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series 3-0, the hosts will start as clear favourites. However, a new look Pakistan team, led by Shahid Afridi, is expected to give them tough fight.
Bangladesh have decided to rest Mominul Haque and Rubel Hossain ahead of the Test series and brought in young batsman Litton Das and pacer Mustafizur Rahman for this limited overs fixture. However, it is highly unlikely that these two will make it to the playing eleven. The only change that is expected can be Abul Hasan, who might be considered as the replacement of Rubel. READ — Bangladesh: The ugly duckling of world cricket comes off age
The host will bank upon their in-form batting, especially the top order to do the job for them once again. The opening partnership of Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar will play a vital role. Apart from them, the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman are expected to take bulk of the responsibility of scoring runs.
In bowling, the pace combination of skipper Mashrafe Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed will be a good back for their spin brigade, who will be playing the role of restricting the Pakistan batting. After an excellent One-Day International (ODI) series, the performance of Arafat Sunny will be closely monitored in this game as well.
Pakistan’s t20 squad, on the other hand, has a different look all together. Under the leadership of Afridi, this team has experienced cricketers like, Ahmed Shehzad, Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir and Saeed Ajmal, who are regarded as very good players, especially in this format. On paper this team looks quite strong, but can they deliver on field? READ — Saeed Ajmal’s new bowling action: More round-arm, with a much straighter elbow
It will be a night game on Friday and the wicket at the Shere Bangla National Stadium will be full of runs. Both captains would like to chase on this track. Spinners generally get a bit of help on this venue and both teams have plenty of quality spin options on their ranks. READ: Hafeez set to resume bowling for Pakistan with remodeled action
Recently, Bangladesh have broken their 16 years jinx of beating Pakistan in a ODI. Now it’s time to settle issues in the smallest format of the game as well. Bangladesh have never beaten Pakistan in a T20I, and without any doubt this is going to be their best chance.
Squads:
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Tamim Iqbal, Rony Talukdar, Soumya Sarkar, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Abul Hasan, Mustafizur Rahman, Arafat Sunny.
Pakistan: Shahid Afridi (c), Ahmed Shehzad, Haris Sohail, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Mukhtar Ahmed, Saad Nasim, Saeed Ajmal, Imran Khan, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Sohail Tanvir, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Sohaib Maqsood, Sohail Khan.
Time: 18:30 local | 12:30 GMT | 18:00 IST
(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)
