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It has been long since Pakistan and Bangladesh have locked horns in a competitive series. The last time Bangladesh hosted Pakistan was in 2015. However, as per Bangladesh Cricket Board Chief Executive officer Nizamuddin Chowdhury’s latest announcement, Pakistan will tour Bangladesh in the United Arab Emirates, right after the T20 World Cup.
Given that this series shall commence after the T20 World Cup, authorities focused their attention towards the other two formats, i.e. Tests and ODIs. To those who are unaware, when Pakistan last toured Bangladesh in 2015, it was the hosts who clean swept the ODI series 3-0, which eventually marked the rise of the Tigers in limited overs cricket.
Two-match Test series to be part of WTC 2021-23
It is being reported that there will be two Test matches, three ODIs and probably three T20 matches between the two sides. For Bangladesh, this series will mark their journey in the new cycle of the World Test Championship. In the previous cycle, many of their matches were postponed or abandoned due to the distress caused by Covid-19.
“The Pakistan series will happen right after the [T20] World Cup. The cricket operations department is in talks with the Pakistan board to finalize the details. All formats will be included, there will be more ODIs and Tests,” the BCB CEO told the local media on Monday, as reported by Cricket Pakistan.
As per the announcement made by BCB CEO, things are yet to be finalized with the Pakistan Cricket Board. The priority is however given to the other two formats as majority of the teams have played big chunks of their international series in the shortest format.
Having said that, this series will be a huge boost for both these Asian countries as both Pakistan (fifth placed) and Bangladesh (ninth placed) are working rigorously to work their way up to the top in Test cricket. In addition, these two nations are placed behind one another in the ICC Men’s ODI rankings with Pakistan being 6th in the world.