The Pakistan-Bangladesh Test series, which is part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship, will be played later this month. The first Test will be played from August 21 to 25 in Rawalpindi. The second Test will be played in Karachi from August 30 to September 3.
Pakistan’s training camp will begin at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on August 11 and will be overseen by head red-ball coach Jason Gillespie and assistant coach Azhar Mahmood. The Bangladesh cricket team is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad early on August 17 and is expected to train later that afternoon.
Meanwhile, the match referees for the Test series have been announced. Former Sri Lankan cricketer Ranjan Madugalle will be the match referee. For the Test series, there are two umpires from England, one from South Africa and two from Pakistan.
The on-field umpire will be England’s Richard Kettleborough, along with South Africa’s Adrian Holdstock, in the Rawalpindi Test match. England’s Michael Gough will be the third umpire, while Pakistan’s Rashid Riaz will act as the fourth umpire.
In the second Test match in Karachi, Michael Gough and Adrian Holdstock will serve as on-field umpires while Richard Kettleborough will be the third umpire. Pakistan’s Asif Yaqoob will be available as the fourth umpire in the Test match.
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Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, Karachi
As for the ranking of the top teams in the WTC points table, Pakistan is placed fifth in the table while Bangladesh is eighth. Pakistan won the first two Test matches against Sri Lanka and lost the next two against Australia.
So far, Bangladesh have won only one Test match against New Zealand. They lost the next one against the Kiwis and then suffered two more defeats against Sri Lanka. Against Pakistan, they faced another tough test in favourable weather conditions.
Meanwhile, with all the political turmoil in Bangladesh at the moment, Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that they are in talks with PCB regarding the possibility of Bangladeshi players coming to Pakistan soon.
Reports on Cricbuzz said that the PCB is likely to host Bangladesh for a few more days in Rawalpindi and also provide them with the requisite training.
“Coming to Pakistan for practice soon is part of the discussion but we have not taken any decision on that as we have to talk to the interim government before taking a final decision,” Chowdhury told Cricbuzz.
Meanwhile, award-winning Professor Muhammad Yunus, who will become the chief advisor to the interim government, is expected to arrive in Bangladesh on Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, BCB cricket operations officer Shahriar Nafees said he was not sure when the players would be back to train for the series, however, he is satisfied with the arrangements.
“The biggest concern for us was to start training after the situation of the last 2-3 days. Thank God, we started today. We were not sure about the training facilities as the fielders were not able to work in the last 3-4 days. But we saw that everything was in order,” Nafees said.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board further said that they are likely to get in touch with Shakib Al Hasan, who is currently playing in the Global T20 league in Canada. It further said that amid the current political tension in Bangladesh, Shakib no longer has any political connections and is now just an international cricketer.
“Shakib Al Hasan’s term is till August 12. On August 13, he is supposed to return to the country and inform us. He still has two or three matches left and we will be in touch with him to try and find out his plans. Shakib is a cricketer now. Last night, on the President’s orders, Shakib is no longer an MP,” Nafees said.
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