All You Need To Know About Pakistan vs Bangladesh Test Series

After the 9th edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, all the teams are preparing for the next challenge, the ICC World Test Championship. The road to this prestigious trophy starts with Bangladesh's tour of Pakistan, where the Shaheens will host 2 Tests against Bangladesh from August 21 to September 03, 2024. This will be Bangladesh's first tour since the ICC main event, where they failed to reach the semi-final after being defeated by Afghanistan in a must-win game.

This is not the first time they have performed poorly in an ICC event; in the last 50-over tournament hosted by India, they were considered probable contenders for the marquee event but were eliminated in the group stage. However, if we look at their performance over the last 6 months, they have played good cricket, with young players like Najmal Hossan Shanto, who is leading the squad, along with Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shoriful Islam. However, they are lacking to perform as a team unit.

Meanwhile, the same can be said for the Pakistan national cricket team, who are coming into this series after a disappointing performance in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, where they failed to qualify for the Super 8s after being defeated by debutant USA and India. Going forward in this series, both teams will try to put their previous performances behind them.

Talking about the Pakistan national cricket team, Shan Masood has been named captain of the squad after former captain Babar Azam failed to take the team forward in two consecutive ICC events. Saud Shakeel is the vice-captain. Young players like Aamer Jamal and Kamran Ghulam have been given a chance after their brilliant performances in domestic cricket. Along with these young players, the PCB has also picked young pacer Naseem Shah for the squad after a long wait of one year.

Pakistan are sitting in 5th position in the ICC World Test Championship rankings, having won 2 tests out of 5, with 22 points on the table. In contrast, Bangladesh are in 8th position after finding just 1 win out of 4 games, with 12 points on the table.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh, Head-to-heads

These two Asian teams have clashed several times in the long format of the game, where Pakistan have consistently dominated by winning the series against the Bangladesh Lions.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have faced each other in 13 matches in Tests. Out of these 13 games, Pakistan have won 12, while Bangladesh have yet to secure a victory. Despite these records, the Bangladesh team might surprise Pakistan in the upcoming series as their country is going through a tough time after the resignation of PM Sheikh Hasina due to riots.

Squads:

Bangladesh:

Najmul Hossain Shanto (C), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Kumer Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Syed Khaled Ahmed

Pakistan:

Saud Shakeel (capt), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rameez Jnr, Mohammad Huraira, Naseem Shah, Saad Baig (wk), Saad Khan, Saim Ayub, Sameen Gul, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Umar Amin

The first test between these teams will be played on August 21 at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi. The second test match will be held in Karachi.