Sports Reporter :
Bangladesh look for an amazing start in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) second cycle.
Bangladesh will host Pakistan in a two-match Test series in November-December of 2021 that will mark the starting of their ICC WTC mission.
Selector of Bangladesh Cricket team Habibul Bashar said, “To tell the fact we could not reach to our expectations in the previous cycle and there were many matters as well as the unavailability of some of the cricketers and all those things. However, I’m not ready to put them as an excuse.”
“We determind to leave behind all our disappointments and look to have a fresh beginning,” he added.
Before beginning the Test series, Bangladesh will play a three-match Twenty20 International (T20I) series against Pakistan which will take place at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium (SBNCS) in the city’s Mirpur on November 19, 20, and 22, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) confirmed on Tuesday last.
After finishing the three T20I matches, Bangladesh Cricket team and Pakistan Cricket team will reach Chattogram to compete in the first Test of the two-match series, scheduled to start from November 26-30 at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram, while the second Test will take place at the SBNCS from December 4-8.
Habibul Bashar claimed that their batting unit must click as a unit in Tests if they want to achieve success in this format as he felt that it’s an area that made them suffer earlier.
Bashar said, “I think our major focus will be in our batting. Our batsmen failed to show consistent batting performance in Test matches.”
He said, “Our batsmen failed to perform consistent batting, which had to pay for it as I feel our bowlers bowled up to the mark in the longer version cricket and we can achieve a different result if they get enough support from the batsmen.”
Bangladesh can heave a sigh of great relief as they don’t need to pick two teams for the series as the PCB has agreed to send their two teams simultaneously for the Test and T20I series.
Earlier there was a discussion that suggested the PCB was eyeing to send their Test team earlier and send their T20I squad after a few days of the Test series.
It will be the first time since the ACC Asia Cup T20 in 2016 Pakistan national cricket team will travel to Bangladesh while they last played a bilateral series here back in 2015.
The Tigers cleanly swept them away in the three-match ODI series as well as defeated them in the lone T20I series during the series in 2015.
Bangladesh also earned their maiden Test draw against Pakistan in the first Test in Khulna before losing the second Test to lose the Test series by 0-1 margin during the series.
Although the upcoming series will be Bangladesh’s first Test series in the current WTC window, Pakistan have already begun their mission against West Indies and drew the two-match Test series 1-1 last month.
