Can Pakistan save the blushes against rampant Bangladesh?

Bangladesh set aside Pakistan's pseudo-paternalistic concerns about their home pitches not helping them away on Tuesday. After all, this series is taking place in Bangladesh, and in the corresponding one six weeks ago, Pakistan prepared surfaces designed to suit their own game; it hasn't exactly helped them away in Bangladesh, either.

A dominant bowling performance helped them wrap up the three-match T20I series at the earliest opportunity, with the visitors grateful for a counterattacking knock from Faheem Ashraf that staved off sharper embarrassment, if not ultimate defeat.

Coming a day after the tragic events of a plane crash into a school that took the lives of dozens, an emotional crowd in Bangladesh were given something to cheer by a home performance which oscillated between steel and swagger. The former was required when Pakistan's bowlers punctured Bangladesh's top order repeatedly in the powerplay and beyond; Jaker Ali and Mahedi Hasan stanching the bleeding and keeping alive their hopes in the contest. The fast bowlers would then light the stadium up in a scarcely believable powerplay where they took five wickets.

Even more satisfying, perhaps, for Bangladesh is the well-roundedness of their displays this series. They showed, in the first game, an ability to hunt down a low-scoring total with ease despite early pressure, before defending one in the second, holding their nerve in a tight finish. They would even rest two of their best performers in the second contest - Tanzid Hasan and Taskin Ahmed sat out - without leaving them too exposed in these conditions. At just about every stage in each game, they've found themselves ahead of Pakistan, and fittingly, that's where they're guaranteed to stay.

When Pakistan trounced this opposition at home a few weeks earlier, captain Agha Salman said he would judge this team by their intent more than results. However, that intent - particularly on Tuesday after Pakistan lost a heap of early wickets - was lacking for large periods. The asking rate ballooned to a point where, even in a low-scoring game, Pakistan would end up scoring 78 off the last 45 balls and still end up short. Salman himself scratched around for 23 balls, managing just nine.

It does show how difficult maintaining positive intent is in real-match pressure conditions. However, one thing going for Pakistan is that they have a large number of T20Is over the rest of the year. If they find themselves unable to implement the fixes they have so publicly promised they're seeking, it won't be for a lack of match practice. The final game against Bangladesh may offer a window into how quickly those fixes can begin to be implemented.

Pakistan: LLWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Bangladesh: WWWWL

Mustafizur Rahman has tormented Pakistan this series, using his famous off-cutters on a surface designed to make them impossibly difficult to play. The pace-on variation makes that weapon even more deadly, and Bangladesh have wrapped up the series before Pakistan have figured out how to handle him. Across both games, he boasts an economy rate under five and has taken three wickets, including the one that finished Pakistan off in the thriller on Tuesday. Should Bangladesh play him with the series already done, there's little sign Pakistan won't struggle similarly against him.

Hasan Nawaz intersperses big scores and impactful innings with a string of low ones, and he's in the latter cycle right now. He's faced ten deliveries this series, but he's yet to score, dismissed for a duck each innings. It's been a story that's repeated itself throughout his brief career so far; the T20I series against New Zealand in March saw him score one century but add just a solitary run in the other four innings. It is that explosiveness that Pakistan use to justify his selection, and what they will bank on as they try and avoid a series whitewash.

Bangladesh may rest the odd player or two with the series done, but there are no further injury concerns.

Bangladesh (probable XI): 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 Sakib, 10 Mustafizur Rahman/Shoriful Isman, 11 Taskin Ahmed

Sahibzada Farhan is yet to get a game this series, as is Sufiyan Muqeem. The inclusion of either won't be a surprise, though Pakistan's weakened bowling attack means they will continue to be forced to turn to part-timers to run through an innings.

Pakistan: (probable XI): 1 Fakhar Zaman, 2 Saim Ayub/Sahibzada Farhan, 3 Mohammad Haris (wk), 4 Hasan Nawaz, 5 Agha Salman (capt), 6 Khushdil Shah, 7 Abbas Afridi, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Ahmed Daniyal, 10 Salman Mirza, 11 Abrar Ahmed/Sufiyan Muqeem

Mirpur has stayed dry even amidst heavy monsoon rain in Dhaka of late. There's an afternoon shower forecast, while the pitch - a subject of such focus this week - is unlikely to be significantly different.