Bangladesh has never defeated Pakistan in any format of the game after defeating them in a World Cup match back in 1999. The closest they ever came to winning in recent years was the final of the 2012 ASIA CUP which Pakistan won by 2 runs. But after the terrific display by The Tigers at the recently concluded World cup, it seems that they might finally end their 16-year losing streak to The Men in Green in the series that starts on the 17th of April as the 1st ODI has already been played and won.
We can hope to win this series as well. These are some reasons why Bangladesh possibly will end the series on a winning high:
Home Ground
The series is being played in Bangladesh, which means that The Tigers are having the advantage of playing on their home terrain. Like every other team, Bangladesh plays best at their home ground. In fact, some of the most historic wins by the Tigers, like their first ever win over India, and the series whitewash of New Zealand, came at home.
World Cup Form
Almost 3 weeks have gone since Australia defeated New Zealand in the final of the World cup. Bangladesh gave a tremendous performance in the World Cup 2015, like defeating England to qualify for the quarterfinals, and coming close to defeating hosts New Zealand in the last group game. If not for the controversial decisions made by the umpires in the quarterfinal game against India, Bangladesh might have gone on to play the Semi-finals, and possibly even fight for the championship at the Final. If they can continue their world cup form in this series, then they can easily clinch their first ever series win over Pakistan.
Solid Batting Lineup
Bangladesh always had great talented batsmen, but they were all inconsistent and unreliable. But now we have Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and ‘Mr Consistent’ Mahmudullah Riyad. All 3 of these batsmen gave great batting performances in the world cup, especially ‘Mr Consistent’. By scoring 2 centuries in 2 games against England and New Zealand in this year’s world cup, Mahmudullah Riyad became the first ever Bangladesh player to score a World cup century, and also the only one to do it in back-to-back matches. Besides, we also have the vastly experienced and talented Tamim Iqbal, along with the impressive Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman, who scored a century in a warm-up match against Pakistan, 2 days before the 1st ODI game.
No Afridi, No Misbah
The current Pakistan
team is a very young and inexperienced one. Without Shahid Afridi and captain Misbah-UL Haq, it would have been very difficult for them to qualify for the quarterfinals of the World Cup 2015. But now that Afridi and Misbah have retired, great pressure is falling on the new captain Azhar Ali, as he leads a team filled with youngsters and players who haven’t played more than 100 games for their country.
We have defeated the Pakistan team in the first match. Will this series be another Banglawash? Let’s keep our fingers crossed today!! Go Tigers!!