 Following the colossal damage caused by Pakistan in the limited-overs formats
of the game, there is little reason to hope Bangladesh will pose a serious challenge
to them in the test series. While Pakistan start the series as overwhelming favorites,
Bangladesh would be keen on springing a few surprises early on when the first
test gets underway from Friday at Chittagong.
Pakistan come into the series on the back of some rich vein of form, not having
lost a test series since the ill-fated England tour in mid-2010. They also experienced
six ODI series-wins in addition to a respectable semi-final performance at the
World Cup. This series against lowly-ranked Bangladesh will allow them
to gain a few rating points as well as prepare themselves for the home series
against England next month.
Click for Live Score Card of Bangladesh Vs Pakistan
The formation of the test line-up has remained relatively stable and the batting
will be anchored by Younis Khan and Misbah ul Haq in addition to the
maturing Azhar Ali. Saeed Ajmal will be their key weapon with the ball,
with the Bangladesh batsmen having little clue about his variations.
The shattering manner of defeat when victory looked certain would surely have
dented Bangladesh's confidence going into the test series. As their coach Stuart
Law has repeatedly pointed out, his players have the technical skills to match
their oppositions, however, they lack the mental toughness to succeed at the highest
level. And this weakness will be tested further with the batsmen required to bat
long hours of the day and bowlers expected to persevere and manufacture wickets
with their own effort.
The experienced but inconsistent Mohammad Ashraful returns to the side
and expectations will yet again be high off him. The team will also be hoping
for Tamim Iqbal to overcome his wretched run fron the one-day series where off-spinner
Mohammed Hafeez struck him out early. The home side will largely depend on their
spinners in the bowling, though they know the bigger spin threats are on the
other side.
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