Pakistan look to continue winning run against Bangladesh

Home



A place where I can go



To take this off my shoulders



Someone take me home



The lyrics of the popular song ‘Home’ resonate well to cricket and Lahore. After Sri Lanka’s men team visited the city for three T20Is, Lahore successfully hosted the three-match T20I series between Bangladesh and Pakistan. And now, with two ODIs to be played between the two teams starting Saturday (November 2), the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is ready to put the mishap in 2009 behind it and bring cricket back home.



The hosts thrashed the tourists in the T20Is alright, and the fact that batting is Bangladesh’s Achilles heel was stressed in all the three games. Clearly, two of the matches in the series were Bangladesh’s to lose. And they did just that.



One major change for the visitors in the ODI series is that Rumana Ahmed takes over the mantle of leadership from Salma Khatun, who led them in the T20Is. Whether that leads to a change in fortunes and results is to be seen.



Bangladesh are playing an ODI after almost a year. Their last game in the format was a one match assignment against the same opponents and – as a solace, if it can be – they had won the match. The look of the current visiting side and the one that played that match is quite similar.



Unlike T20Is, where the hosts had a supreme advantage over the tourists, in the eight ODIs that Pakistan and Bangladesh have played each other, the former have won five while the latter have won three.



Pakistan have happy memories of their last ODI series. They managed to tie the series against South Africa away from home, a series that was a part of the ICC ODI Championship, unlike this one. That has provided them a chance to look at some players keeping in mind their next assignment – an ODI Championship series versus England later this year. As a result, they have included Syeda Aroob Shah, Nashra Sandhu and Fatima Sana in the squad for the series.



Two of Pakistan's premier batters, Javeria Khan and Bismah Maroof, have been in good touch – the recent T20Is showed so with the former scoring 111 runs and the latter 108 runs in three outings. Maroof was the second-highest scorer for her team in the National Triangular One-Day Women Cricket Championship 2019-20, with 139 runs in five games.



A look at the recent form of both teams and the way they turned out in the T20Is, Pakistan are clear favourites, although T20I form may not be the best criteria of judgement. However, as has been with the men’s team, write Bangladesh off at your own peril.



Squads



Pakistan: Bismah Maroof (c), Aliya Riaz, Aroob Shah, Diana Baig, Fatima Sana, Iram Javed, Javeria Khan, Kainat Imtiaz, Nashra Sandhu, Nahida Khan, Omaima Sohail, Sadia Iqbal, Sana Mir, Sidra Amin and Sidra Nawaz (wk).



Bangladesh: Rumana Ahmed (c), Salma Khatun, Jahanara Alam, Shamima Sultana (wk), Ayesha Rahman, Nigar Sultana, Sanjida Islam, Lata Mondol, Panna Ghosh, Ekka Mollik, Sharmin Sultana, Khadija Tul Kubra, Fargana Haque Pinki, Sharmin Sultana Supta, Shanjida Akther.