Sports Reporter:
Bangladesh will meet Pakistan in the first Twenty20 International (T20I) match today at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The match will begin at 9:00pm (Bangladesh Standard Time). Bangladeshi private satellite sports channel T Sports will telecast the match live. Captain of Bangladesh Cricket team Litton Das will lead his squad, while Captain of Pakistan Cricket team Salman Ali Agha will lead his squad.
Before today’s match, Bangladesh and Pakistan faced each other in 19 T20I matches. Of them, Bangladesh recorded three victories, while Pakistan won in the 16 occasions.
All Bangladeshi players are now in Pakistan to play the three-match T20I series at the same venue.
Head Coach of Bangladesh Cricket team Phil Simmons said, ” We don’t take Pakistan team lightly. They are very much competitive side. Pakistan team have not played well recently.
But Pakistan are Pakistan. They have capacity to beat any side. Though my side consists of youngsters but I hope they will prove their capability. Some of our boys took part in Pakistan Super League (PSL) recently. Rishad Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are played in PSL. They have good idea about the conditions of here. Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed could not play in the T20I matches due to injury. We shall obviously miss them. But I believe my youngsters will show a better brand of cricket.”
“We are fully aware of the challenge and we are preparing to take the challenge,” he added.
It may be mentioned that newly appointed Pace Bowling Coach of Bangladesh Cricket team Shaun Tait and Spin Bowling Coach Mushtaq Ahmed joined the Bangladesh Cricket squad.
Squads:
Bangladesh Cricket squad: Litton Das (Captain), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan (Vice-Captain), Tanvir Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Khaled Ahmed and Shoriful Islam.
Pakistan Cricket squad: Salman Ali Agha (Captain), Shadab Khan (Vice-Captain), 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.
