Litton Das and Salman Agha steel themselves for Dhaka's surprises

Pakistan captain Salman Agha has said that his team will stick to their fearless approach, especially if the conditions in Bangladesh favour them as the two teams prepare to face each other in a three-match T20I series.

Except the conditions in Dhaka aren't always conducive to run-scoring. The average first-innings score in night T20Is in the last ten games is less than 125. Those include the 2021 series against New Zealand and Australia, where raging turners were employed to aid the Bangladesh spinners. It played out perfectly as Bangladesh won the series 4-1 (against Australia) and 3-2 (against New Zealand). The current Bangladesh T20I captain though would prefer a move away from such made-to-order surfaces.

"I agree that the (2021 series) had an adverse effect on our batters," Litton Das said. "Even I could have built up a career as a bowler in those pitches. It was a tough time for the batters although Bangladesh won both series. I don't think there will be a repeat this time. I saw a good wicket. It will be an even game."

Pakistan had beaten Bangladesh 3-0 in a T20I series in May and June. After having piled up 200-plus totals while batting first in the first two games, Pakistan successfully chased 197 with nearly three overs to spare in the third game.

Head coach Mike Hesson and captain Agha are trying to get the team to follow the modern trend of trying to get as many runs as possible in the first six overs.

"We have changed the way we play, and that's how we want to play," Agha said. "But assessing the conditions is always going to be key. We will see what the conditions are and how we want to play. If the conditions allow us to play that way, we will play, and if the conditions don't allow us to play that way, we will try to do what the conditions are allowing us. Our goal is to score above par, like 10-15 runs, and when we are batting above par and then when we are bowling, to make sure we will restrict the teams less than over par.

"T20 is changing every single year, every six months, to be honest. We have the players now who will play the way we want. We want to play aggressive cricket, and with that, anyone can play that kind of cricket and can come into the team. But yeah, the players we have right now, they are very good, and very exciting."

While Pakistan skipped training on the eve of the T20I series opener, Bangladesh held an optional session from late afternoon. Litton Das took a long hard look at the pitch for Sunday's opening T20I and had a lengthy discussion with curator Gamini Silva. At his press conference, Litton said he expected sporting pitches.

"Mirpur isn't always bad for batters," he said. "It was just troubling for batters in two particular series (against Australia and New Zealand in 2021). The ball spins here, there's help for pacers. But there's also runs being scored. I think it's a sporting wicket."

Litton had earlier expressed his concerns about the conditions in Dhaka after the third T20I in Sri Lanka last week. "I don't know how the Mirpur wicket is going to be behave, for the Pakistan series," he had said. "I think it is raining in Dhaka every day, so wicket can be difficult for batting in such conditions. Batters may fail there, but we won't be too disappointed. We will keep trying to give our 100%."

During the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) however, the Shere Bangla National Stadium produced good batting surfaces. Teams batting first in the last 10 night games managed a few scores in the region of 190-200. Litton said that it also has to do with the winter dew and poorer bowling attacks in the BPL.

"I can see two factors in this regard," Litton said. "There is always a chance of dew in one innings in the BPL. It makes batting easier. I also don't think there are exactly five quality bowlers in a BPL bowling attack. We can target one or two bowlers. The international level is definitely different. We will face at least five good bowlers. I think even if this match is not high scoring, it will be an exciting match."