Bangladesh V Pakistan T20 Live And Preview: Pakistan Favourites To Win

Pakistan will start their tour of Bangladesh with a T20I game at Dhaka. The Pakistan-Bangladesh T20 encounter will be played on November 29.

Pakistan are coming off a superb series against Sri Lanka. They were relentless in their pursuit and won the series in all three formats – ODIs, Tests and T20Is – sending Sri Lanka empty-handed. Bangladesh should be a much easier cup of tea for a side that is gelling well as a unit and showing the kind of discipline that has rarely been associated with the side.

The side will look at trying to maintain a similar combination that was in action in the Sri Lanka series. However, the sense is that given the way the pitches behave in the country, there could be an extra need for a spinner. With Pakistan already going into the matches with three frontline spin bowlers, it will be interesting to see whether they actually get in a fourth one in Abdur Rehman.

Bangladesh need their batsmen to fire. Far too often, the side has been sold short by their top-order which has promised to deliver but hasn’t done so. Tamim Iqbal has lost his way after the World Cup while Shakib al Hasan hasn’t been decent without being at his best as he was in 2009.

The bowling will again depend on the slow bowlers, with Shakib and Abdur Razzaq leading the bowling attack. Sunny Elias’ excellent Test debut should hold him in a good stead but how Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam perform with the new ball could make the difference.

Pakistan prefer this format to any other and with their superb all-round strength, they should be clear favourites to steamroll Bangladesh.