So, the 10th edition of the PSL is over and the Pakistan team will return to action as they will be facing Bangladesh in a three-match T20 series starting from 28th May in Lahore.
Before the series even begins, Bangladesh have lost its main pacers as Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed are unavailable due to injury. The former has picked up a thumb injury in his last match for Delhi Capitals IPL while the former has been nursing an ankle injury for the last two months as it has kept him out of competitive cricket.
Bangladesh have called up Khaled Ahmed to replace Mustafiz, however, they have not announced replacement of Nahid Rana who opted out from the series due to personal reasons.
Besides these, Bangladesh have Tanzim Hasan, Hasan Mahmud and Shariful Islam in the squad. Hasan Mahmud enjoyed a great time when his side toured last year to play a two-match Test series. If anything, the experience might come handy in the T20 series ahead.
The Bengal Tigers have also added Mehidy Hasan Miraz who has replaced injured Soumya Sarkar to bolster their bowling attack.
Ahead of the series Simmons is hopeful that the selected pacers would give their best as it is so natural to miss the senior seamers.
“You miss your senior seamers,” Simmons said on the sidelines of Bangladesh’s training session in Lahore on Monday evening.
“As we saw, how Fizz (Mustafizur) was bowling in the IPL then. We will miss him. It is also a chance for somebody to take his place in this series. Let’s hope one of the bowlers decides that he wants to fill in for Fizz in this series. Our bowling is usually our stronger suit in this format. But having two senior bowlers, Taskin and Fizz, out, then it balances off.”
The coach also said the side is upbeat even after a 2-1 defeat against UAE just in the recent past and expects the side to bounce back against Pakistan.
“It was difficult to lose the series in UAE, but then sometimes that lifts you up. Our morale has been great, so we are hopeful (the result in UAE) will lift us up,” he said.
“I think there’s always a great chance of winning the series. People keep saying Pakistan are not playing well. Again, it is about what happens on the day. We have a good chance of winning the series here. We are working very hard to try to improve in all aspects. Hopefully we get better in this series.”
Simmons also welcomed the new bowling coach Shaun Tait. he also was a believer in both Tait and Saqlain Mushtaq who were with Karachi Kings and Peshawar Zalmi during the PSL.
“I think he [Tait] will be brilliant not just for the bowlers, but for the team in general. We will assess the situation here. Mushy was in the PSL right through so we will get information from him and make our decisions,” Simmons added.
On May 28, Bangladesh will play their opening match against Pakistan. They will then play on May 30 and June 1. The Gaddafi Stadium will host all of the games.
