The cricket caravan is back in the country, and set to roll again, as the Tigers face off with Pakistan in the lone T20 international here on Tuesday to kick-start the tour.
While Pakistan, fresh from humiliating World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka in all three formats of the game in the UAE, are expected to come out all guns firing, the hosts would aim to pick up from where they left off last month, having beaten the West Indies by three wickets in a thriller at Mirpur stadium.
Tuesday's match will be played at the same Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium from 5 pm. And the Tigers would hope to eke out their first T20 victory against Pakistan, having lost all four matches in the smallest version of the game played between the two teams till date.
A formidable force in this form of cricket, Pakistan have won the world T20 title once and finished runners-up and been eliminated in the semifinals once each.
Facing Pakistan's strong bowling attack will be Bangladesh's main challenge. The three highest wicket-takers in T20 internationals are all members of this Pakistan team: Shahid Afridi with 53 T20I wickets, Umar Gul with 49, and Saeed Ajmal with 46 have, between them, the ability to grind any batting line-up.
All-rounders like Mohammed Hafeez and Shoaib Malik add to the Pakistan team's bowling depth.
The top Pakistani batsmen -- Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal -- are in good form and senior pros Yunus Khan and skipper Misbah-ul-Huq have the proven ability to play match-winning knocks.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are also high on confidence, having beaten West Indies in the T20 here on October 11, and new skipper Mushfiqur Rahim will aim to continue with that winning form.
Though Tamim Iqbal is in good shape, fellow opener Imrul Kayes still remains a shadow of his former self with the willow. In fact, Tamim, too, has not shown his best in T20s.
Mushfiqur will thus look at him to give a flying start.
The hosts also have depth in both batting and bowling, with all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hussain, Alok Kapali and Farhad Reza expected to take the field on the morrow.
The left arm spin-duo of Abdur Razzak (22 T20 wickets) and Shakib (19 wickets) will lead the bowling attack, while Elias Sunny will add support to the spin attack.
But before the spinners come into play, the hosts would look at opening bowlers Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain to make some dent in the much-vaunted Pakistan batting line-up. The pace duo's failure to give initial breakthroughs would make it that much tougher for the spinners, who would be forced to bowl a containing line.
Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim had expressed disappointment over the pitch in the last home series against the Windies. But the team management may be in a Catch-22 situation this time around: an overtly spin-friendly track would surely help the home spinners, but it could also boomerang in this series, as Afridi, Ajmal and Hafeez are more than capable of extracting help from the wicket.
So the task for the bowlers against Pakistan is cut out: make early inroads, contain and frustrate the batsmen, and then go for the kill with the spinners. While it may sound a tough job, cricket is played as much on the 22-yard strip as in the head, and the Tigers' confidence and the crowd's enthusiasm may just see David slaying another Goliath.
While Pakistan, fresh from humiliating World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka in all three formats of the game in the UAE, are expected to come out all guns firing, the hosts would aim to pick up from where they left off last month, having beaten the West Indies by three wickets in a thriller at Mirpur stadium.
Tuesday's match will be played at the same Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium from 5 pm. And the Tigers would hope to eke out their first T20 victory against Pakistan, having lost all four matches in the smallest version of the game played between the two teams till date.
A formidable force in this form of cricket, Pakistan have won the world T20 title once and finished runners-up and been eliminated in the semifinals once each.
Facing Pakistan's strong bowling attack will be Bangladesh's main challenge. The three highest wicket-takers in T20 internationals are all members of this Pakistan team: Shahid Afridi with 53 T20I wickets, Umar Gul with 49, and Saeed Ajmal with 46 have, between them, the ability to grind any batting line-up.
All-rounders like Mohammed Hafeez and Shoaib Malik add to the Pakistan team's bowling depth.
The top Pakistani batsmen -- Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal -- are in good form and senior pros Yunus Khan and skipper Misbah-ul-Huq have the proven ability to play match-winning knocks.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, are also high on confidence, having beaten West Indies in the T20 here on October 11, and new skipper Mushfiqur Rahim will aim to continue with that winning form.
Though Tamim Iqbal is in good shape, fellow opener Imrul Kayes still remains a shadow of his former self with the willow. In fact, Tamim, too, has not shown his best in T20s.
Mushfiqur will thus look at him to give a flying start.
The hosts also have depth in both batting and bowling, with all-rounders Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hussain, Alok Kapali and Farhad Reza expected to take the field on the morrow.
The left arm spin-duo of Abdur Razzak (22 T20 wickets) and Shakib (19 wickets) will lead the bowling attack, while Elias Sunny will add support to the spin attack.
But before the spinners come into play, the hosts would look at opening bowlers Shafiul Islam and Rubel Hossain to make some dent in the much-vaunted Pakistan batting line-up. The pace duo's failure to give initial breakthroughs would make it that much tougher for the spinners, who would be forced to bowl a containing line.
Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim had expressed disappointment over the pitch in the last home series against the Windies. But the team management may be in a Catch-22 situation this time around: an overtly spin-friendly track would surely help the home spinners, but it could also boomerang in this series, as Afridi, Ajmal and Hafeez are more than capable of extracting help from the wicket.
So the task for the bowlers against Pakistan is cut out: make early inroads, contain and frustrate the batsmen, and then go for the kill with the spinners. While it may sound a tough job, cricket is played as much on the 22-yard strip as in the head, and the Tigers' confidence and the crowd's enthusiasm may just see David slaying another Goliath.
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