Pakistan will be looking to take the revenge of the last match that they played against Bangladesh where Bangladesh defeated them quickly and knocked them out of the tournament.
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The match was originally to be played in Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamsala but ran into trouble after the state government said it would not be able to provide security. Afridi’s all-round display fetched him the man of the match award. Bangladesh won the game with 54 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method. They beat them by seven wickets in April 2015 and in the Asia Cup as well. However, India tamed them in the final, clinching it by eight wickets.
Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Mohammad Mithun, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed.
Having known the conditions here like the back of his hand, the Kolkata Knight Riders spinner would lead the attack, while Bangladesh would hope that their left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman recovers from his side strain, which had ruled him out of the Asia Cup. But he is likely to make a comeback on Wednesday. “I love to give chance to my batsmen but sometimes you need some extra efforts (from captain) in these type of events”.
The team’s unpredictability is also a reflection of the unpredictability of its captain.
“We can’t say he will be available or not”.
“There was a bit of a controversy yesterday”, Younis said in reference to Afridi’s comment at a press conference at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.
Bangladesh’s build-up has been serene in comparison to the dramas in Pakistan’s camp.
Skipper Shahid Afridi, Imad Wasim and Malik will perform the spin duties. However, it will depend on how Pakistan bowlers fare on the flat Eden surface. They have the fearsome trio of Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Irfan opening the bowling for them.
“Emotions run high whenever India play Pakistan”, Gavaskar told the NDTV news network. “We didn’t bowl well today”.
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The veteran of 124 Tests said the Pakistan cricket authorities must look into this matter and there should be proper media classes for the players when they go overseas. Bangladesh also has a great fan following in India as well that will also help them to boost up their confidence before the match.
