ZCZC
BSP-17
BD-PAK-T20-TOSS
Bangladesh opts to bat in first T20 against Pakistan
DHAKA, Jan 24, 2020 (BSS)- Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad decided
to bat first after winning the toss in the three-match T20 Internationals
opener against Pakistan at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Friday.
The Tigers fielded seven batsmen and four bowlers-three of whom are
pacers in their bid to win the match, with which the cricket takes the center
stage, putting aside the security issue.
As the two batting stalwarts Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan
remained absent, the Tigers designed their middle order with the likes of
Afif Hossain, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Soumya Sarkar and Mohammad Mithun while
Naim Sheikh would open the batting with Tamim Iqbal.
Bangladesh chose to opt out pacer Rubel Hossain and formed the three-
pronged pace attack with Mustafizur Rahman, Shafiul Islam and Al-Amin Hossain
while leg-spinner Aminul Islam Biplob would bring up the diversity in
bowling.
In their last 10 encounters with Pakistan in the shortest format of the
cricket, Bangladesh won just two and lost eight matches.
But in their last 10 matches in this format, Bangladesh won five
including one against mighty India and lost five matches. Pakistan won just
one match and lost a staggering number of eight matches in their last 10
encounters. One match of Pakistan against Sri Lanka was washed out due to
rain.
Overall in 92 T20 Internationals, Bangladesh won 30 in contrast of
losing 60 while two matches were abandoned.
Pakistan played 149 T20 matches so far in which they won 90 and lost 55
while four matches were either abandoned or tied.
Despite the upper-hand in overall stat, Pakistan is facing off
Bangladesh in the first T20 on the back of six straight defeats.
Teams:
Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Naim, Afif Hossain, Liton Das(w),
Mahmudullah(c), Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, Aminul Islam, Shafiul Islam,
Mustafizur Rahman, Al-Amin Hossain
Pakistan: Ahsan Ali, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik,
Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf,
Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain.
BSS/SMP/IJ/1515 hrs