As Pakistan and Bangladesh gear up for their three-match T20I series, Pakistan captain Salman Agha has emphasized his team’s commitment to maintaining a fearless approach, especially if the conditions in Bangladesh favor aggressive play. However, conditions in Dhaka are not always ideal for high-scoring games. Over the past ten night T20Is, the average first-innings score has been below 125, partly due to turning pitches used in the 2021 series against New Zealand and Australia, which helped Bangladesh dominate both series.
Conditions and Team Strategies
Bangladesh’s T20I captain Litton Das acknowledged the difficulties batters faced in those earlier matches, but he is optimistic about this series.
“𝑰 𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 (2021 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔) 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔,” 𝑳𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒉 𝒘𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆.”
Pakistan had recently swept Bangladesh 3-0 in a T20I series earlier this year, consistently posting 200+ totals and chasing down a target of 197 comfortably in the final match. Head coach Mike Hesson and captain Salman Agha are pushing the team to adapt to modern T20 trends by maximizing runs in the first six overs.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝑨𝒈𝒉𝒂. “𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒌𝒆𝒚. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔, 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒚. 𝑰𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒑𝒕 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒚.”
Pitch Conditions and Match Outlook
While Pakistan opted to skip training before the series opener, Bangladesh held an optional session with Litton Das closely inspecting the pitch alongside curator Gamini Silva. Litton believes Mirpur can offer balanced conditions for both batsmen and bowlers, contrasting with the challenging surfaces seen in 2021.
“𝑴𝒊𝒓𝒑𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅. “𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒅. 𝑰 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕.”
He also noted the impact of dew and bowling quality seen in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), where scores tended to be higher due to dew and less potent bowling attacks.
“At international level, we face at least five quality bowlers,” Litton added. “Even if the match isn’t high scoring, it will be exciting.”
With both teams ready and conditions to be judged carefully, the upcoming T20I series promises competitive cricket and strategic battles in Dhaka.
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