Preview: Confident Bangladesh take on a new look Pakistan

Preview: Confident Bangladesh take on a new look Pakistan: The post-World Cup 2015 action is all set to begin for two Asian rivals as Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh is all set to get kicked off at the Sher-E-Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur where the two teams face each other in the first match of the three match ODI series. This also the first time since 2011 both the teams play their first bilateral series against each other courtesy a sour relationship between the BCB and PCB. Both the teams will look to do well in the series.

Pitch Report: The pitch will offer a bit of assistance to the pace bowlers initially and tends to wear down once the ball gets older.

Weather Report: Weather in Mirpur is expected to be cool without any rain interruptions.

Bangladesh are a serious threat for Pakistan in the series as they showed what they are capable of in the recently concluded World Cup. However, the hosts won’t be led by their regular skipper Mashrafe Mortaza after the ICC banned him for slow over rate during the World Cup quarter-finals against India. In his absence, Shakib Al Hasan will lead the side. Uncapped Rony Talukdar will open the innings along with Tamim Iqbal, whose regular opening partner is out with a shoulder injury he sustained during the World tournament. Their batting has the likes of Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim followed by Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain as finisher. Their bowling too has improved and in the absence of Mortaza, Rubel Hossain will lead the attack along with Taskin Ahmed and Shakib and Arafat Sunny playing the role of spinners.

On the other hand, Pakistan will look to begin a fresh life under their new captain Azhar Ali. They will also miss some regular starters which include the retired stalwarts Shahid Afridi and Misbah-ul-Haq. They have also overlooked Ahmed Shahzad and Umar Akmal for the series which leaves middle order batsman Saad Nasim in line for an ODI debut. Their bowling will be boosted by the return of injured Junaid Khan and banned spinner Saeed Ajmal. All Rounders Fawad Alam and Mohammad Hafeez also return to the squad.

Possible Line Ups:

Bangladesh: Tamim Iqbal, Rony Talukdar, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Taskin Ahmed, Rubel Hossain.

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali, Haris Sohail, Saad Nasim, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmed, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil