Pakistan, Bangladesh look to the future with WC on horizon

Next year’s World Cup is in sight as a new-look Pakistan under Mike Hesson host a young Bangladesh team in Lahore in three Twenty20 internationals from Wednesday.

The 2009 world champions Pakistan have endured a significant downturn in the last 12 months and crashed out in the first round of the World Cup in 2024.

They have won only three of their last 13 T20Is, two against minnows Zimbabwe, and slumped to eighth in the T20I rankings.

With a new head coach in New Zealand’s Hesson they are looking to younger players with the World Cup in India and Sri Lanka just eight months away.

Star batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, and pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi, have all been axed.

Salman Agha will lead the side, having lost a series in New Zealand 4-1 two months ago.

“We’ve been really clear around the style of play we want and then it’s about picking players that can do that,” Hesson, who coached New Zealand from 2012-2018, said.

“We’ve got a good number of T20Is between now and the World Cup.

“We will develop a depth of squad playing the way we want and the rankings will come in time because it is about the way we want to play.”

Bangladesh, ranked ninth, are in the same boat.

They have won just four of their last 12 T20Is and lost series against lower-ranked United States (2024) and United Arab Emirates earlier this month. They also have a new coach in West Indian Phil Simmons, who will be missing senior players including Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim, all either fully retired or from the T20Is.

“We’re aiming to improve our cricket by performing well in this series,” said Simmons, who took over in October.

Frontline fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman are nursing injuries while new pace sensation Nahid Rana withdrew from the tour over security fears following the cross-border conflict between India and Pakistan.

The conflict put the tour in doubt but Bangladesh finally agreed to play three T20Is instead of the scheduled five.

The remaining matches are on Friday and Sunday, also in Lahore.

Agencies