Salman Ali Agha, Pakistan T20I captain, explained that his team will continue with their fearless approach, if the conditions in Bangladesh are favourable for them as both teams are ready to fight against each other in a three-match T20I series.
The conditions on the pitches of Dhaka are not always batting friendly, as the average score in last ten night matches in the first innings is less than 125.
During the 2021 series against Australia and New Zealand, the pitch provided a lot of turn to spinners of Bangladesh. It resulted positively for Bangladesh, as they won the both series against Australia (4-1) and New Zealand (3-2). The current Bangladesh captain would not prefer such made-to-order pitches.
“I agree that the (2021 series) had an adverse effect on our batters,” Litton Das said. “Even I could have built up a career as a bowler in those pitches. It was a tough time for the batters although Bangladesh won both series. I don’t think there will be a repeat this time. I saw a good wicket. It will be an even game.” He added.
Captain Salman Agha and Head coach Mike Hesson both want their team to follow a modern approach to get more possible runs in the first six overs.
“We have changed the way we play, and that’s how we want to play,” Agha said. “But assessing the conditions is always going to be key. We will see what the conditions are and how we want to play. If the conditions allow us to play that way, we will play, and if the conditions don’t allow us to play that way, we will try to do what the conditions are allowing us. Our goal is to score above par, like 10-15 runs, and when we are batting above par and then when we are bowling, to make sure we will restrict the teams less than over par.”
“T20 is changing every single year, every six months, to be honest. We have the players now who will play the way we want. We want to play aggressive cricket, and with that, anyone can play that kind of cricket and can come into the team. But yeah, the players we have right now, they are very good, and very exciting.”
After playing the third T20I in Sri Lanka last week, Litton shared his concerns related to pitch conditions in Dhaka.
“I don’t know how the Mirpur wicket is going to behave, for the Pakistan series,” he explained. “I think it is raining in Dhaka every day, so wicket can be difficult for batting in such conditions. Batters may fail there, but we won’t be too disappointed. We will keep trying to give our 100%.”
The Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka proved a batting friendly during the BPL, teams who batted first in the last ten games managed to score 190-200.
“I can see two factors in this regard,” Litton said. “There is always a chance of dew in one innings in the BPL. It makes batting easier. I also don’t think there are exactly five quality bowlers in a BPL bowling attack. We can target one or two bowlers. The international level is definitely different. We will face at least five good bowlers. I think even if this match is not high scoring, it will be an exciting match.”
