Pakistan look to fine-tune new approach against deflated Bangladesh

The Mike Hesson era in Pakistan cricket began just about as well as could be expected, Pakistan's complete performance giving them a straightforward victory over Bangladesh. More than the result, it was the mindset Salman Agha's side took into the game that suggests it may be the start of something promising. Despite the loss of two early wickets and a sluggish start, the Pakistan batters continued to attack, and Nos. 3-6 produced scores between 31 and 56. Crucially, all of them boasted strike rates between 164 and 200, when traditionally an anchoring role in the middle may have chipped a chunk off their total.

Topping it up was a complete bowling performance, too. Bangladesh were never allowed to keep pace with the asking rate as Pakistan continued to bruise them with regular wickets. The returning Hasan Ali continued the form he produced in the PSL, his career-best figures of 5 for 30 the cherry on top of a perfect Pakistan start.

For Bangladesh, the picture is significantly less rosy. A bright start with the ball was a false dawn as the visitors found themselves outplayed through much of the rest of the game. Most notably, it was their spinners - a skillset Bangladesh rightly take pride in - who found themselves rendered ineffective, Mahedi Hasan and Rishad Hossain leaking 91 in their eight overs.

With Pakistan adopting a big-hitting power game, Bangladesh will also be aware of how unfavourably their own appears to compare. Pakistan's bowling attack is by no means the most economical, but tellingly, Bangladesh appeared unable to take the attack to them early, consequently easing pressure off the bowlers. Flashes from captain Litton Das and Jaker Ali weren't nearly substantial enough and received little support from their team-mates as Bangladesh crumpled to defeat.

However, Pakistan's new system is still finding its feet, with the variance between a good performance and a poor one likely significant. Bangladesh's game style offers a more stable level of baseline performance, one that, should they reproduce in either of the remaining games, could see them give Pakistan trouble.

Pakistan WLLWL (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
Bangladesh LLLWW

The only downside for Pakistan during a fairly complete performance was Haris Rauf's figures of 0 for 36 in three. The Lahore Qalandars fast bowler had a difficult PSL in terms of economy, a poor run that appears to have continued into this series. Even when he bowled towards the tail-end of the game with the jeopardy taken out, he found himself being targeted by Jaker, and ended up as the most expensive fast bowler on either side. At his best, Haris has offered precious control in the middle and later overs of T20 innings, and for a more rounded bowling attack, Pakistan need him to rediscover that prowess.

Jaker Ali struck some meaty blows on Wednesday, once more confirming his growing stature as a gritty, aggressive cricketer. His penchant for refusing to give up in difficult situations has seen regard for him improve within Bangladesh cricket circles, and in a side where big hitting is in short supply, Jaker fills a crucial hole. He is also one of the few in-form batters in the side, and it would not be a surprise if he earns a promotion up the order.

While Pakistan may use this series to try things out, they may not want to tweak much after a well-rounded performance in the first game. If anything, Abbas Afridi may come in for Haris Rauf.

Pakistan (probable): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Mohammad Haris (wk), 4 Hasan Nawaz, 5 Salman Agha (capt), 6 Shadab Khan, 7 Khushdil Shah, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Haris Rauf/Abbas Afridi, 10 Hasan Ali, 11 Abrar Ahmed

Bangladesh may want to bring Najmul Hossain Shanto back into the XI, but it isn't who played and who didn't that resulted in Wednesday's defeat so much as a flat performance across the board.

Bangladesh (probable): 1 Tanzid Hasan, 2 Parvez Hossain Emon, 3 Litton Das (capt), 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Jaker Ali (wk), 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Tanzim Hasan, 10 Hasan Mahmud, 11 Shoriful Islam

The weather conditions are unlikely to change, with hot and dry weather expected throughout the series. A fresh pitch will be used, but expect the same old batting-friendly conditions.

"I'd like to dedicate this performance, above all, to myself. The amount of hard work I've done, I should give credit to myself, too."
Hasan Ali opens up on the difficulty of his journey back to the top, and the pride he takes in it