Full credit must go to Bangladesh for agreeing to delay and then proceed with their three-T20I tour of Pakistan, though they too can appreciate the value of friendship through political instability. The Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been run and won after a nine-day pause and now Fakhar Zaman and Haris Rauf will look to replicate their franchise success on the international stage.
This is the next stage of Pakistan’s rebuild following their embarrassing early exit from the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, and whilst they have endeavoured to move on from the past by axing three of their last four T20I captains - Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi - they haven’t completely done away with the older generation.
30-year-old Hasan Ali earned a recall along with 29-year-old Sahibzada Farhan, the latter of whom would wish the 9.55 alongside his name was a T20I run rate rather than an average but has earned a second chance after topping the scoring in the 2025 PSL.
Bangladesh’s squad are also match fit: the brief postponement of this series meant they got to play a third T20I against the UAE in Sharjah, a series they ultimately lost 2-1 after leading 1-0. They start this series a long way behind, but we know what both sides are capable of at their worst.
Why Pakistan can win
The revolving door of Pakistan cricket coaching saw Mike Hesson walk through to replace Gary Kirsten and then Aaqib Javed, and Hesson knows how to build a title-winning culture, most recently winning the 2024 PSL with Islamabad United.
They’ve been quite poor in this format since their last home series of April 2024, winning just five out of 18 completed matches overseas excluding the World Cup, but on home soil Pakistan recorded 2-2 draws with New Zealand in both 2024 and 2023, winning all three of the games in Lahore in which they had to bat first.
Fakhar Zaman is in imperious form off the back of 439 runs (four 50s) in the recent PSL whilst bowling all-rounders Hasan Ali and Faheem Ashraf joined speedster Haris Rauf on 17 wickets each for the tournament, a count bettered only by leading wicket-taker Shaheen who was dropped for this series after a poor tour of New Zealand earlier this year (2-133 from 13 overs).
The host side hold an almost invincible 7-1 T20I record against which, when combined with their home advantage and strong PSL performances from some of their key players, leaves them well placed to continue Bangladesh’s woes.
Why Bangladesh can win
After they struggled horribly with the night-time dew in Sharjah, Bangladesh will be relieved to get out of the UAE and into Lahore where evening temperatures stay warm right throughout the night at this time of year.
In addition to the bulk of their squad having T20I cricket under their belts through the lead-up series in Sharjah, there is some PSL experience in the squad through spin bowling all-rounder Rishad Hossain and the experienced Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Rishad claimed 2+ wickets in an impressive four of seven games for champions Lahore Qalandars and Mehidy trained with the squad albeit as a backup.
The squad also includes a couple of players with international experience in Pakistan such as 30-year-old Litton Das, who would have kept wicket for Karachi Kings in the PSL were he not injured, though they would dearly loved to have had the services of injured pair Soumya Sarkar and Mustafizur Rahman.
Behind all that experience, Bangladesh fans got a glimpse of a bright future in Sharjah despite the overall result when youngsters Parvez Hossain Emon and Tanzid Hasan recorded top scores of 100 and 59 respectively in the series. The batting lineup will need to tread carefully during the powerplay overs, though.
Venue and conditions
Heatwave conditions are persistent in Lahore right throughout May and the nights are offering little respite with temperatures barely dropping below 30 degrees celsius right throughout, but that means dew is unlikely.
The last six T20Is in Lahore were batting first and in 2023 and 2024 they produced quite a consistent run of scores with first innings totals of 163 to 192 all being enough to win.
All nine scores of above 175 in Lahore T20Is were defended whilst nine of the remaining 14 were chased down.
Match stats
• Only three of Bangladesh’s last 15 opening partnerships scored more than 20 runs
• Seven of Pakistan’s last eight were also no more than 20 runs
• Pakistan captain Agha Salman top scored in three of their last eight T20I innings
• Mahedi Hasan took 2+ wickets in four of his five T20Is since the last World Cup
• Saim Ayub went past 20 runs in only one of his five T20Is in Lahore