We know what can be the expected outcome when one team beaming with supreme confidence meets another very low in mental make up. Yet circumstances alter cases. A team having back to the wall very often put everything together to bounce back and give a good account of them. This can be the case for the new look Bangladesh in their first of the three matches T20 series against strong Pakistan at SBNCS.
All knows Pakistan rocked the ICC T20 World Cup 2021with superlative all round performance. They were looking like the team to walk away with the trophy till ultimate champions Australia in a closely fought semi final match deprived them. Bangladesh one the other hand performed pretty poor having lost all their super 12 matches and looked very ordinary. When such teams meet after a major tournament it does not need an Albert Einstein to explore the outcome. Moreover, one team has retained most of its firepower and other team either lost its main strength through injuries or opted to discard. Pakistan will be without veteran Mohammad Hafiz and they chose to rest Imad Wasim and Asif Ali. Bangladesh would be missing Shakib and Saifuddin through injury and they discarded Liton, Soumyo and most importantly their main stay Mushfiqur Rahim. Experts observed that Bangladesh must have gambled a bit too much. With a new look team they have taken a great risk . But cricket is a funny game and T20 can often surprise all.
Bangladesh (probable): Mohammad Naim, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Yasir Ali, Mahmudullah (Captain), Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan Sohan (Wicket Keeper), Mahedy Hasan, Nasum Ahmed , Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman.
Pakistan (probable): 1 Babar Azam (Captain), Mohammad Rizwan (Wicket Keeper ), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi
The wicket at SBNCS proved as Achilles Hill for the depleted Australia and New Zealand teams in not too distant past. Not that Bangladesh could also bat well. But Bangladesh convincingly won both the series. But Pakistan is a South Asian team and is more attuned to playing on slow, low gripping surfaces. They have horses for the courses. Pakistanis are among the top players of spin and have their own expert operators. Without most of the main batsmen Bangladesh may struggle against very potent Pakistan attack. Mahmudullah is the only batsman having experience of playing quality bowling. Naim and Shanto are the two others expected to perform. Saif Hasan is a test opener. Nurul Hasan and Afif Hossain had a very poor world cup. Hope Yasir and Akbar prove their worth. Bangladesh retains most of the mainstream bowling excepting Shakib and Saifuddin. It would be a huge challenge for Bangladesh. Experts observed that Bangladesh may repent for resting Mushfique and making too much experiment.
Pakistan possesses in Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan two of the top inform batsman of T20 at this moment. The nature of the wicket or the quality of Bangladesh bowling may not affect them much. We are unsure about Fakhar Zaman and Haidar Ali performing though on slow wicket. Pakistan has chosen to check Khushdil Shah and Mohammad Newaz. Shoiab Malik is there to repair any damage. Bangladesh would struggle against Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf at the top and death overs, Shadab Khan and Mohammad Nawaz.
One only hopes that fresh legs of Bangladesh fields better and takes their chances. Bangladesh starts as clear underdogs and expectations from underdogs must not be too great. Crowd would return to SBNCS to cheer the home side.
