Bangladesh tour of Pakistan 2020 - 3 T20, 2 Tests and 1 ODI

[AsadRM]

Good performance by Pakistan winning the game by 5 wickets in hand. Malik showed why experience is so important in tense situations, by scoring 58*. Not a great performance but not bad either by the entire team. Mahmudullah's captaincy was not convincing at all! Allowing easy singles made sure Bangladesh made it tough for themselves. Good performance with the ball by Mustafiz, Imad Wasim and Shadab Khan. That run out by Shadab was absolutely great; bowling the delivery, then running 20-25 yards, and hitting the bull's-eye .

The pitch was also not very good; too slow and not the kind of pitch you will expect in a T20i

 

[LiveLoveABD]

It was not an international or even first class pitch. Little surprised to see how slow the tracks in Pakistan have become. Remember places like Sialkot being fizzy. Imad's dismissal today was hilarious and this is not a dig at him, it's a dig at the pitch. You see these tracks in a local tennis ball tournament.

 

[AsadRM]

It was not an international or even first class pitch. Little surprised to see how slow the tracks in Pakistan have become. Remember places like Sialkot being fizzy. Imad's dismissal today was hilarious and this is not a dig at him, it's a dig at the pitch. You see these tracks in a local tennis ball tournament.

There are a couple of reasons ; Gadaffi Stadium has hosted so much FC recently that its pitch is over used now, and the second reason being that weather has been cloudy for a few weeks now. The outfield was also looking yellowish due to this reason. Also Pakistan team practised on the central pitch instead of the other side pitches.

Sialkot has the quickest pitch in entire Pakistan, and arguably (in a few games) the quickest in entire subcontinent.

 

[AsadRM]

Pakistan announces the squad for 1st Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi ( 7-11 Feb):
Azhar Ali (c)
Abid Ali
Asad Shafiq
Babar Azam
Bilal Asif
Faheem Ashraf
Fawad Alam
Haris Sohail
Imam-ul-Haq
Imran Khan sr
Mohammad Abbas
Mohammad Rizwan
Naseem Shah
Shaheen Shah Afridi
Shan Masood
Yasir Shah

Usman Shinwari and Kashif Bhatti have been dropped from the squad

I am yet to understand that why Misbah dropped Kashif Bhatti, who didn't play a single game. Sticking with Imran Khan and bringing Faheem Ashraf back isn't a very good move either. I thought we already had enough of 'Lance Klusener' but not to be, at least in Misbah's mind. He is utterly mediocre and it is the time to move on from these tried and tested failures. Faheem is a bits and pieces player, and Pakistan desperately needs specialists not these kind of players

 

[A.P Haux]

Hoping to see Fawad Alam finally take the field in the first test if not Misbah has other ideas.....

 

[AsadRM]

Bangladesh announce the squad for first test:
Mominul Haque (C)
Tamim Iqbal
Saif Hassan
Najmul Hossain Shanto
Mahmudullah
Mohammad Mithun
Liton Das
Taijul Islam
Nayeem Hasan
Ebadot Hossain
Abu Jayed
Al-Amin Hossain
Rubel Hossain
Soumya Sarkar

Tamim Iqbal returns, while Mustafiz and Imrul Kayes have been left out of the squad. Mushfiqur isn't coming for the test series either

 

[CerealKiller]

I think Faheem should’ve never been dropped from Tests. He did well in England in 2018, and a seam-bowling all-rounder is the missing piece in this team. We have another tour of England coming up. Kashif Bhatti is very unlucky to be dropped, but i guess Misbah wanted an offie for all the Bangladeshi left-handers. Bilal Asif is unlikely to play, however.
Shinwari should’ve stayed ahead of Imran, whose selection is really puzzling. Shinwari was stopped from playing the BBL, which was priceless preparation for the WT20, to play against Sri Lanka, and without having done badly, he’s dropped in the next series. Really infuriating.
I’d go with this lineup, but i think Haris won’t be dropped for Fawad.

Abid
Masood
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Fawad
Rizwan
Yasir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

 

[AsadRM]

I think Faheem should’ve never been dropped from Tests. He did well in England in 2018, and a seam-bowling all-rounder is the missing piece in this team. We have another tour of England coming up. Kashif Bhatti is very unlucky to be dropped, but i guess Misbah wanted an offie for all the Bangladeshi left-handers. Bilal Asif is unlikely to play, however.
Shinwari should’ve stayed ahead of Imran, whose selection is really puzzling. Shinwari was stopped from playing the BBL, which was priceless preparation for the WT20, to play against Sri Lanka, and without having done badly, he’s dropped in the next series. Really infuriating.
I’d go with this lineup, but i think Haris won’t be dropped for Fawad.

Abid
Masood
Azhar
Babar
Shafiq
Fawad
Rizwan
Yasir
Shaheen
Abbas
Naseem

I have a feeling that Naseem or Abbas would be dropped to accomodate Bilal Asif. But let's see

 

[CerealKiller]

I have a feeling that Naseem or Abbas would be dropped to accomodate Bilal Asif. But let's see

I think it will depend in the pitch and conditions. If they are as seam-friendly as the last match, i don’t think he’ll play. I could see Yasir getting dropped for him, too.

 

[A.P Haux]

So Misbah had other ideas . But anyways, Shaheen bowled brilliantly and so did Abbas, and Bangladesh got a lot more than expected. We will have to see how Pakistan respond.

 

[Bevab]

Goodness me, Rubel "test average of 80" is really playing another test.

 

[A.P Haux]

Goodness me, Rubel "test average of 80" is really playing another test.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

[AsadRM]

Babar Azam gets his 5th test hundred. It has been an excellent innings so far. He was struggling at the start but then made sure that he took full advantage of a missed opportunity by Bangladesh, by dropping his catch while he was on 3. This is his 3rd Test in Pakistan and his 3rd hundred. He averages 350 in Pakistan in tests. He now has 4 hundreds in last 5 games and a 97 too.

He is becoming a real superstar in Pakistan and slowly in world cricket too. This might be the best oppurtunity for him to get a 200...

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

This might be the best oppurtunity for him to get a 200

I was thinking bigger.

 

[A.P Haux]

I was thinking bigger.

With Rubel and co on fire, I wouldn't be surprised if he breaks Lara's record. Rubel is now the main contender to break Bradman's 99.94 avarage with his amazing bowling