It seems the Pakistanis tooalso have their has its own version of Poonam Pandey and we hope that Pakistan Cricket bBoard (PCB) plays sporty this time unlike the BCCI. My message to the boys will be to leave everything behind, because this is about playing for the nation.
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Star batsman Tamim Iqbal is in the form of his life, scoring Bangladesh’s first ever worldwide T20 century in Sunday’s victory over Oman after scores of 83 and 47 in the first two games.
The India-Pakistan clash on 19 March was originally scheduled to be played in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh.
Bangladesh are on a roll and had whitewashed Pakistan 3-0 in an ODI series as well as in the one-off T20 played last May at home.
Asked about the conditions and the wicket, Mortaza said, ” We haven’t played much here.
Amid this off-field drama, the Pakistani players will take the field on Wednesday, eyeing revenge for the humiliating loss to Bangladesh in the recent Asia Cup.
While the “Big B” will sing the national anthem in his signature baritone, Pakistan will also make their presence felt with classical singer Shafaqat Amanat Ali who is slated to sing the Pakistani National Anthem.
Since this will be the first match for both teams, we can expect both teams to give their best shot to start their road to the finals on a high note. Afridi has been impressed by Amir’s return to global cricket after a five-year ban.
“I think Bangladesh are playing very good cricket so we’ve got to be really watchful and we have to come out really strong to beat them”.
Grouped with the likes of India, Australia, New Zealand and Bangladesh, Pakistan head into the tournament as underdogs but that, Alam reckoned, works in his team’s favour. “But yes, our strength is fast bowling, and we’ll have three genuine pacers”.
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Bangladesh, who could not make it to the Super 10 by virtue of their lower T20I rankings at the time of cut-off, are the only team which entered the second phase of the tournament undefeated. But Pakistan is bound to see red at the snub after ties appeared to be on the upswing after Islamabad’s decision to take part in the T20 World Cup. The moot question is against mounting pressure and with very little room left for manoeuvre, how do you ensure that you are in a good space ahead of a hugely hyped game against Pakistan? “So I won’t name anyone a favourite”.
