Bangladesh vs Pakistan, 3rd T20I Preview: Men in Green look to sweep hapless Bangladesh
Pakistan have now won 12 of the 14 T20 Internationals between the two teams, including wins in all the last five clashes between the two teams.
LIVE SCORES - Bangladesh vs Pakistan, 3rd T20I
The last time Bangladesh were successful in getting one past Pakistan was back in 2016 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka, the venue for this series as well.
Delta between teams
There is a clear gulf between the two sides. While Pakistan were unbeaten in the recently concluded T20 World Cup in the group stage before they were knocked out by Australia in the semi-final, Bangladesh failed to win even a single match in the Super 12 stage and even failed to open their account in the points table.
However, Bangladesh have been extremely tough to get past in recent bilateral series at home and made a mockery of both Australia and New Zealand in the lead-up to the last T20 World Cup albeit the two teams did not arrive on the Bangladesh shores with a full-strength squad.
Batters find it tough to get going
The Bangladesh pitches continue to be a nightmare for batters with the ball not coming onto the back at all. That said, the pitch for the second T20I was a fresh surface and was better for batting than the series opener. But still, the batsmen found it very difficult to hit through the line which is the name of the game in T20 cricket.
Bangladesh have been hit by a couple of injury concerns before the last match of the T20 series . Both Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam picked up injuries in the 2nd T20I. While Mustafizur felt a sudden pain in his side during the match, Shoriful picked up a groin injury.
Changes to Bangladesh squad
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has decided to include opener Saif Hassan in the probables for the upcoming Test series in the absence of Tamim Iqbal who is out with a thumb injury.
As a result, the BCB have had to add uncapped opener Parvez Hossain and pacer Kamrul Islam Rabbi to their squad. There is a good chance of Parvez coming into the side straightaway in place of Saif Hassan.
Bangladesh have Yasir Ali, Akbar Ali, Nasum Ahmed, Shahidul Islam and Shamim Hossain on the bench and might look to give them some exposure in what effectively is a dead rubber.
Time to try out Dahani?
Pakistan decided to rest Hasan Ali in the last match and brought in Shaheen Shah Afridi in his place. Pakistan have done well to try out some youngsters in the first two games. Mohammed Wasim Jr has impressed in the couple of opportunities that he has got and this might be just the time to finally try out Shahnawaz Dahani who has been sensational in the Pakistan Super League.
Sarfaraz Ahmed, Usman Qadir and Iftikhar Ahmed are the other players who can do with some game time.
Captain Mahmmadullah needs to take more responsibility
Bangladesh bowlers, both spinners and pacers, have been doing well over some time now. But, it is their batting which is letting them down.
In the absence of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim, captain Mahmmadullah has to take more responsibility in the middle overs.
Predicted Playing XIs
Bangladesh - Mohammad Naim, Parvez Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Afif Hossain, Mahmudullah (c), Nurul Hasan (wk), Mahedi Hasan, Aminul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Shoriful Islam/Mustafizur Rahman
Pakistan - Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Shoaib Malik, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf
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