In international cricket, the Pakistan cricket team is currently on a tour of Bangladesh for a 3-match T20I and a 2-match Test series. The tour is set to kick off tomorrow (November 19) with the first T20I match to be played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium (Dhaka) in Mirpur. The 2nd and 3rd matches of the series will be played on November 20 and 22 at the same venue respectively.
Since 2007, Pakistan and Bangladesh have met in a total of 12 T20I matches. Pakistan has won 10 matches and Bangladesh has won 2 of the matches. The last time the two teams met was in the T20I series in Pakistan in January 2020, where the Men in Green whitewashed the Tigers in the three-match series.
Pakistan played their last four-match T20I series against the host West Indies, where Pakistan won the series 1-0 against the Caribbeans. On the other hand, Bangladesh played their last 5-match T20I series against visiting New Zealand, where the Tigers won the series 3-2.
Out of the last five T20I series, both Bangladesh and Pakistan have won 4 series each. However, the players of the Pakistan team who made it to the semi-finals after a great performance in the T20 World Cup are now confident and will want to hold on to their performance.
On the other hand, as the experienced players of the team are being rested in this series, Bangladesh has arranged the team with young dependent players. But they were unbeaten in the last 3 series on home soil. So even if Pakistan is ahead in terms of statistics, the success of the latest T20I series on home soil will make the Bangladesh team want to continue that winning streak. The young players must try their best to win against experienced Pakistan and at the same time keep the series memorable.
Pakistan is ranked 3rd and Bangladesh is ranked 8th in the ICC T20I rankings. So the Tigers have to work hard in this series to build a solid position in the points table.
T20I Squad:
Bangladesh – Mahmudullah (c), Mohammad Naim, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Yasir Ali, Afif Hossain, Shamim Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam, Akbar Ali, Nurul Hasan (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Shahidul Islam, Shoriful Islam, and Nasum Ahmed.
Pakistan – Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah, Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shoaib Malik, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Qadir, Hasan Ali, and Shahnawaz Dahani.
T20I match schedule for Bangladesh and Pakistan:
1st T20I – 19 November, Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur (Dhaka), 14:00 (GMT +6)
2nd T20I – 20 November, Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur (Dhaka), 14:00 (GMT +6)
3rd T20I – 22 November, Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur (Dhaka), 14:00 (GMT +6)
The Bangladesh-Pakistan series is going to start tomorrow with the first T20I. For more updates on the series, stay with Baji!