New Delhi: The Bangladesh cricket team is looking forward to experienced all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan for the opening Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, which begins on Wednesday. Shakib is one of the veterans Bangladesh have added to their strong 15-member team and the Tigers will be up against a pace-heavy Pakistan in the 1st Test of the two-match series.
Najmul Hossain Shanto, who will be leading the team in the two Tests, said that he is expecting Shakib to do “something special” in the series. “(Shakib) played this game for so long, so he knows his role,” Shanto said on the eve of the first test. Shakib has been into politics as well to which Shanto said that he isn’t thinking about his political career.
“He knows how to prepare himself, so I am not thinking about his political career and I hope he will do something special in this series. He’s a professional cricketer and we all treat him as a cricketer, to be very honest,” Shanto said on Shakib, who was a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Bangladesh Awami League until the recent unrest in the nation.
Bangladesh’s all-format great Shakib was playing in the T20 league in Canada when his nation was thrown into political turmoil. The unrest also hampered the preparations of the team due to which Bangladesh had to fly to Pakistan four days earlier than their planned schedule in order to get three days of additional training in Lahore.
Shanto on PAK’s pace-attack
The 25-year-old skipper said that it won’t be easy tackling the Pakistan pace attack spearheaded by Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. Pakistan have enjoyed a good record over Bangladesh in recent years, specially in Rawalpindi. Shah took a hattrick against Bangladesh four years ago that dismantled the batting order as the Men in Green won by an innings and 44 runs.
Shanto, who was among Shah’s hat-trick scalps then, said that it was not going to be easy, but remained hopeful. “We have a very good balanced side and we believe we can do some special things this time,” he said on Tuesday.
Both tests will be played in Rawalpindi and the series is a part of the World Test Championship (WTC) in which Pakistan is currently placed at the no. 6 spot while Bangladesh sit 8th. Pakistan have fared against Bangladesh in Tests in history, winning all but one of the 13 matches. One instance was a draw, back in 2015 at Khulna in Bangladesh.
(With PTI inputs)
Bangladesh will be up against Pakistan in the first T2st of the two-match series in Rawalpindi from Wednesday. The team will be led by Najmul Hossain Shanto including veteran star Shakib Al Hasan. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
