Bangladesh’s stand-in captain Jaker Ali won the toss in Dubai and sent Pakistan in, turning tonight’s fixture into a straight shoot-out for a place in Sunday’s Asia Cup final against India.
Litton Das is still nursing a side strain, so Jaker keeps the gloves and the armband for a second match in two days. Bangladesh freshened their XI with three changes: Nurul Hasan slots into the middle order, Mahedi Hasan provides an extra spin option and Taskin Ahmed returns with the new ball. Tanzid Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin and Nasum Ahmed drop out.
Pakistan, unbeaten so far, named the same side that overcame Sri Lanka in Abu Dhabi. Opposing skipper Salman Agha did not mind being asked to bat, noting the surface looked dry. “We’d have batted first anyway,” he said, expecting his slow bowlers to enjoy conditions as the evening wears on.
Dubai tracks often slow up, yet a light sheen of dew can level things later on. Explaining his call, Jaker said, “We’ve chased well recently and we feel the dew might come in.”
Teams
Bangladesh: Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali (capt/ wk), Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman.
Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (capt), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
Win and you meet India; lose and you’re done. Simple on paper, seldom straightforward under the Dubai lights.
