Bangladesh out to avoid T20 whitewash against Pakistan

Dhaka, 31 May—Bangladesh are keen to avoid a series whitewash by showing an improved performance as they take on Pakistan in the third and final T20 International at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore Sunday. 

The match which starts at 9 PM will be aired live on T Sports.

After being humbled by United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bangladesh lost the series to Pakistan also by losing first two matches. While the series scoreline against UAE was 2-1, they are on the brink of series whitewash against Pakistan.

Bangladesh lost the first game by 37 runs while chasing a target of 202. They got same target in the second match but this time put worse performance than the first game, being all out for just 144 and lost it by 57 runs.

To make the matter worse, pacer Shoriful Islam, who did considerably well than other bowlers, suffered an injury blow. He was able to bowl just three deliveries in the second game, a thing that Bangladesh captain Liton Das cited as the turning point of the second match.

According to Liton, they could have made it tougher for Pakistan if they were not one bowler short.

“I think when Shoriful got injured, that time momentum fully shifted,” Liton said. 

“We knew we lacked in bowling, still we came back well. We were one bowler short after Shoriful’s injury but we did well to restrict Pakistan in a total that was chaseable on this wicket.”

But the batting frailties continued. Only three batters could reach double digits for Bangladesh with No.9 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, primarily a bowler, top-scoring with 50.

The middle order including Liton Das put a disastrous performance. 

“Whoever bats well, they need to continue till the 13-14th over but we couldn’t do that,” Liton said. 

Even though hardly anyone believe that Bangladesh will be able to avoid a series whitewash given their performance, specially with the batting, Liton said they need to correct the mindset to get back to winning way.

“We have one more chance. At the moment we have to sit and talk and see how we can comeback strongly, it's all about mindset,” he said.

Bangladesh now lost all five matches they played on Pakistan soil, including the second match. Overall the two teams played 21 matches between them with Pakistan winning 18 and Bangladesh just three. 

Bangladesh will have to make at least one change to the playing XI after the injury of Shoriful Islam. Syed Khaled Ahmed is highly likely to replace him in the XI.

Pakistan meanwhile will be keen to sweep the series and they are favourite to do that, given their performance and Bangladesh’s vulnerability in the first two matches.

Bangladesh squad: Liton Das (captain), Mahedi Hasan, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Parvez Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Patwari, Jaker Ali Anik, Rishad Hossain, Tanvir Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib and Shoriful Islam.

Pakistan squad: Salman Ali Agha (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub.BSS