The first of two Test matches between Bangladesh and Pakistan begins on Friday as the two nations get the latest leg of the World Tour Championship underway in Chattogram. They do so knowing that whoever wins this match will have a share of the series guaranteed.
Bangladesh will be wanting to be competitive in this staging of the World Test Championship and that begins with winning at home. Pakistan have a team for all conditions so they will be eyeing up points here which should make for a competitive contest.
Bangladesh
After a terrible T20 World Cup campaign which they didn’t exactly make up for in the three T20 internationals these two teams played prior to this Test match, Bangladesh will be looking to restore some pride here. The problem they have is that this is the format they have struggled the most in and they look to be up against it here given the players that are unavailable to them at least in this match and most likely the series.
It is two years ago this week that Bangladesh beat anyone other than Zimbabwe in Test cricket. They have lost the other nine matches around the two wins over Zimbabwe and that probably shows us where Bangladesh are as a side. The simple fact is that they don’t have the depth in bowling resources needed to be competitive over five days. They have bowlers who can bowl good spells but they can’t maintain the pressure on the batters and end up paying the price.
Pakistan
Pakistan have played seven Test matches this year and they have won five of them so they are in a nice tune in the longest format of the game and will be looking for valuable World Test Championship points over the next couple of weeks. Pakistan will be going into this series off the back of a dominant display in the T20s which I think they needed to get the agonising defeat in the T20 World Cup out of their system.
I’m not sure if this is the best format for Pakistan but they are certainly a very good side in it. They have a truly world class batting unit who are all capable of scoring big runs and when you stick a mountain of runs on the board then good things generally come your way. They also have bowling resources that can prosper in seaming conditions and in spinning ones so there is certainly a lot to like about the visitors here.
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Team News
Bangladesh are without three important players here. Tamim Iqbal and Shakib-al-Hasan aren’t available while Mahmudullah has decided to retire from this format of the game. Mahmudul Hasan Joy could make his debut. Mushfiqur Rahim returns after being left out in the T20s.
Pakistan will be forced into a change from the last time they played Test cricket as there is no Mohammad Abbas available for this match. Sajid Khan might well be the man to replace him in these conditions.
Betting
This feels like the sort of match which Babar Azam will show his class in. I am going to take his performance because the odds are pretty tight for Pakistan to win the match, and rightly so, but we saw when the West Indies chased down 380 here in the last Test match on this ground that funny things can happen in this part of the world so I’m more than a little reluctant to get involved in them at short prices.
Azam has a performance line of just 88.5 which if he gets in and gets going he could cover that in one innings. West Indies chasing that score down suggests that the pitch doesn’t deteriorate so Babar should get two innings to show his stuff unless Pakistan win by an innings in which case you would think he will have contributed strongly to proceedings. He has catching potential as well which further helps his chances to cover this line and I like the over here.
Tips
Back B.Azam’s Performance – Over 88.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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