Desk Report,
How Pakistan gets news from Bangladesh’s home
Pakistan last played a match in Bangladesh 4 years ago. Salman Agha, who is now the captain of the T20 team, was not in the Pakistan squad then. Except for Khushdil Shah-Mohammad Nawaz, no one from the Pakistan team in that T20 series four years ago is in this squad. Still, the conditions in Bangladesh are not completely unfamiliar to Pakistan. Why? The answer to the question was found today at Pakistan captain Salman Agha’s press conference in Mirpur. Pakistani cricketers are somehow matched in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). From that source, they know the conditions here well. In addition, Pakistan’s coaching staff also has people with experience working in Bangladesh in the past – fielding coach Sean McDermott was previously in charge of Liton Das. McDermott was in charge of the fielding coach of the Bangladesh team from March 2022 to November 2023.
How Pakistan gets news from Bangladesh’s home
There are 9 cricketers in Pakistan’s 16-member squad who have played in the BPL. Pakistan captain Salman heard about their experience playing in Bangladesh from Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Haris, Saim Ayub, Fahim Ashraf, Hossain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Abbas Afridi and Abrar Ahmed. When asked what they had to say about Bangladesh’s conditions, Salman said, “It is very important for us. Most of the players have played in the BPL. What is very important is to get their input and experience. We have spoken to them. They have given their input, we have planned accordingly.” Pakistan has recently changed its style of playing T20s. The team’s two big stars, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, have not been in the team for this edition since December last year. The topic of Babar and Rizwan also came up in the press conference before the start of the series against Bangladesh. It was asked whether Babar and Rizwan were dropped because Pakistan brought an aggressive attitude to the T20 style of play?
