Ensuing tour of Pakistan cricket team to Bangladesh presents great opportunity to both teams to give the taste of competitive international cricket to many youngsters desperate to prove their skills. For tiger followers in Bangladesh it is another opportunity to cheer for their squad against a team which would compete well in all formats. Bangladesh gets an opportunity to improve their standing in ICC ranking and close their gap with Pakistan which ranks not much above them in ODI. Pakistan has already announced three different squads under three different captains for three formats. They will play two tests, three ODIs and two T20 in the tour.

Pakistan Team
Test Sqaud : Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafiz, Sami Aslam, Misbah Ul Huq ( Captain)  , Asad Shafiq , Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Harris Sohail, Saeed Aajmal , Yasir Shah , Julfiqur Babar, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz , Junaid Khan  and Sohel Khan .

ODI Squad: Sarfraz Ahmed,Mohammad Hafiz,Asad Shafiq, Fawad Alam, Azhar Ali (Captain) ,Mohammad Rizwan, Harris Sohail, Shoaib Maqsood, Sami Aslam,Saeed Aajmal,Yasir Shah,Wahab Riaz,Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil and Sohel Khan .

T20 Squad: Ahmed Shehzad, Sarfraz Ahmed,Mohammad Hafiz, Mukhtar Ahmed, Harris Sohail, Shoaib Maqsood,Mohammad Rizwan,Saeed Aajmal,Shahid Afridi ( Captain) , Sohel Tanvir, Saad Nasim, Wahab Riaz,Sohel Khan .Umar Gul and Junaid Khan.

Pakistan and Bangladesh both lost their quarter final matches in the recently concluded ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Pakistan lost to ultimate Champion Australia at Adelaide Oval and Bangladesh to India in a controversial match at MCG. Pakistan beat mighty South Africa and Bangladesh beat England in respective pool matches.

Pakistan in home series away from home in UAE against Australia and New Zealand proved too hot to handle. Pakistani batsmen and bowlers were in prolific form in all formats of the game. But three of their key players Saeed Aajmal, Mohammad Hafiz and Junaid Khan for different reasons missed World Cup. All three are back in the team. Misbah Ul Haque and Shahid Afridi have retired from one day format. But Pakistan is coming with full strength team and may prove a difficult team to beat by Bangladesh team which also performed admirably in world Cup.

This series will kick off a very busy home season of international cricket for Bangladesh as it will be followed by tours of India, South Africa and Australia. A four nation ODI series involving Bangladesh, Pakistan, West Indies and Zimbabwe is also being discussed.
Bangladesh Possibilities: Bangladesh will have greater possibilities in ODI and T20 series rather than test. Pakistan can be a very difficult test team as they have very balanced attack and seasoned test players. In the world cup Bangladesh played quality cricket against all opposition on completely different playing surfaces and conditions. Special mention must be made about four matches Bangladesh played against England, Afghanistan, Scotland and New Zealand. Apart from uncertain opening partnership Bangladesh batted well in all matches excepting the controversial quarter final against India at MCG. Mahamudullah batted superbly and consistently. He scored two back to back centuries. Musfique also batted well consistently proving the backbone of Bangladesh batting. The greatest achievement of the world cup is the emergence of three high quality youngsters Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Khan and Taskin Ahmed. Soumya and Shabbir will develop into useful all-rounder and Taskin will develop into main strike bowler is they are not burnt out in domestic cricket on unresponsive surfaces. Inspiring captain Mashrafee led the team from the front and created dynamism in the team. He catalytically influenced the team for playing fearless cricket against all opposition. With a little bit of luck and better match planning Bangladesh could win against New Zealand and prove more competitive against Sri Lanka and India. Taskin, Rubel and Mashrafee bowled exceeding well. Sakib lacked a good spinning partner. Perhaps experienced Abdur Razzak could be a better choice.Tamim and Sakib failed to do justice to their reputation in batting. If they could perform consistently Bangladesh could go deeper in the tournament.

Bangladesh wickets will be less bouncy and much slower. Yet playing Wahab Riaz, Junaid and Sohail Khan will not be easy. Bangladesh should prepare sporting wickets as they now have Taskin, Rubel and al Amin in the squad. Slow turning wicket will create issues for Bangladesh as Pakistan possesses a very strong spin attack in Saeed Aajmal, Julfiqur Babar and Yasir Shah. In test Pakistan has a very strong batting line up with Hafiz and Sarfraz opening, Younis, Misbah, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafique giving solidity. Bangladesh will really have to bowl and field well to create contest in the test.
We suggest the following test team

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar , Mominul Haque , Mahamudullah Riad, Mushfiqur Rahim , Sakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Khan , Arafat Sunny/ Jubair Hussain  , Rubel Hossain, Al Amin Hossain and Taskin Ahmed.

We have to give another chance at least to Tamim to rediscover his form. If he fails Bangladesh may opt for other opening option from among the performers in the domestic circuit. It may be Imrul Kayes or any one.

Bangladesh will have better opportunities in the ODI series. A series win will improve Bangladesh standing in ICC Ranking closing the gap with West Indies and Pakistan. With the retirement of Misbah and Afridi and unavailability of Younis and Umer Akmal Pakistan batting will be little thinner. Return of Asad Shafique, Azhar Ali and Mohammad Hafiz may not prove enough. Shoiab Maqsood and Harris Sohail may not find Bangladeshi bowling attack too easy to handle. In the world Cup Bangladesh appeared a bowler short in important matches. Experienced Abdur Razzak must return. He gives a bowling option in power play and proves ideal foil for Shakib. On Bangladesh wickets three can be two pacers and three spinner bowling option with Nasir, Mahamudullah as fillers .Our suggested team for ODI may be

Tamim, Soumya Sarkar, Mahamudullah, Shakib, Mushfique, Sabbir, Nasir, Razzak, Rubel and Taskin.

We have to remember a spirited performance by Bangladesh will further brighten a growing image of Bangladesh in international arena. Bangladesh must not be complacent. Pakistan is a difficult team and very unpredictable. The way they humbled strong Australia in the desert of UAE in all formats was a strong signal for all test playing countries. They created huge problem for Australia also in the quarter finals. Wahab Riaz bowled brilliant spell. If only Pakistan could field well there could be difficult situation in the match for Australia. The attack is now bolstered with the return of Saeed Aajmal, Junaid Khan and Zulfiqur Babar.
But anyway opportunity is there for Bangladesh and it must be grabbed with both hands. We are looking for a very entertaining series.

BDST: 1712 HRS, APR 04, 2015