Bangladesh to face Pakistan in first T20 today
Bangladesh will face off the hosts Pakistan in the first T20I of the three-match series in Lahore today (Friday), reports UNB.
The match will start at 3:00pm (Bangladesh time) at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The official broadcast partner of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Gtv, will telecast the game live in Bangladesh. At the same time, the match will be live on YouTube through an official channel.
Before this series, Bangladesh and Pakistan faced each other in 10 T20 Internationals, in which, Pakistan won eight and Bangladesh managed to win the other two.
In the pre-series press conference, Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad told the media that they are eager to play cricket and forget the other things. Tigers have to stay in Pakistan in a tight-secured environment which is not usual for them. Mahmudullah said that this will not impact their game.
“We are concentrating on our game only. We’ve nothing to worry about the security arrangement or anything like that. We understand that Pakistan is a big force in T20 Internationals. Despite that, we upbeat to offer a strong show in the field,” Mahmudullah said.
Bangladesh are going to miss the services of two veterans, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. While Shakib is out of action due to a two-year ban imposed by the ICC, Mushfiqur Rahim skipped the tour due to the concern of his family about security.
Mahmudullah reckons it will be tough for Bangladesh to come up with the replacements of the duo. But he said the young guys who made it to the national squad are capable enough to deliver good performances.
“Yes, they are not here. But the young players have proved their worth in the just-concluded Bangabandhu BPL. They are keen to bring their strong show at the international level as well,” Bangladesh captain added.
“If you talk about the experience, we have Tamim (Iqbal), Shafiul (Islam), Al-Amin (Hossain), Soumya (Sarkar) and Mustafizur (Rahman) who have been playing together for a long time. So we are not worried about who are not here. Instead, we are looking forward to performing well in the field.”
Bangladesh head coach Russell Domingo earlier said that the series will be the start of his preparation to sort out the squad for the T20I World Cup this year which will take place in Australia. Mahmudullah echoed his coach in the pre-series media interaction.
“It’s a big opportunity for us to sort out our team ahead of the T20 World Cup. We’ve to make habit of winning T20 matches. At the same time, it’s a big chance for all of us to win a series in Pakistan,” Mahmudullah told the media.
Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir could have been the big threats if they were in the Pakistan squad. However, Mahmudullah said they are not heeding much on the opposition. Instead, they are thinking to execute their plan in the field.
Bangladesh team reached Lahore at 10:30pm (Local time) on 22 January. Tigers went to Pakistan through a chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines since there is no direct flight to Pakistan from Bangladesh.
After reaching there, Tigers were welcomed by the government and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials. Mahmudullah and his team are staying at Pearl-Continental Hotels.
While the first match of the series will take place today (Friday), the next two games will be played on 25 and 27 January at the same venue. After that, Tigers will return home. They will go to Pakistan on two separate visits more to play two Tests and one ODI.