PREVIEW: Tri-series have been a rare occurrence in the world of cricket for quite a while now. However, with the T20 World Cup, a stone’s throw away, and the teams in dire need of some game time leading to the multinational event down under, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh have found it a better option to have a triple-threat tournament.
Interestingly, the hosts have taken a back seat and allowed the guests to start the tournament and also settle themselves in completely different conditions. And so Pakistan will face Bangladesh in the first match of the series.
The Greens have been on the back of a historic seven-match T20I series against England, which they lost after going down back-to-back in the last two games. And it seems like only a few moments have passed that Pakistan will again be in action, but that is how cricket lately has been, with the advent of T20Is.
Pakistan, however, will be happy to play again as they will be able to give their trump card Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah much-needed game time after injuries left them out for a significant time. Afridi also had to miss the Asia Cup in September.
Bangladesh have been on the back of a poorer run in T20Is of late. They were eliminated in the first round of the Asia Cup after losing to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. And to add to their woes, they had also lost the three-match series against Zimbabwe earlier. However, the recent series win against UAE might give them some impetus.
But overall, it looks like they have lost their mojo in the shortest format of the game. And in the absence of some senior pros in Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmadullah, things will be difficult for them. Nevertheless, they will have to find their form to battle the heavyweights, and they couldn’t have asked for a better place than New Zealand for it. If they can’t, another early exit awaits.
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