Pakistan's Asia Cup preparations hit a snag after Bangladesh loss

Pakistan, fielding a relatively inexperienced side, began their T20I series against Bangladesh on a dismal note suffering a crushing seven-wicket defeat in the opening match of the three-game series in Mirpur on Sunday.

The underwhelming batting display sounded alarm bells ahead of the upcoming Asia Cup in September. After being sent in to bat, Pakistan collapsed for a paltry 110 runs, their lowest total against Bangladesh in T20 internationals.

Fakhar Zaman was the only batsman to leave a mark, scoring a 34-ball 44, which included six fours and one six, before being run out in the 12th over. Abbas Afridi (22) and Khushdil Shah (17) were the only other players to reach double figures. Abbas struck three sixes in his 24-ball stay while Khushdil managed one four in his 23-ball innings.

Pacer Taskin Ahmed was the standout performer for Bangladesh, claiming 3-22 while Mustafizur Rahman was miserly with the ball, finishing with 2-6 from his four overs.

In reply Bangladesh chased down the target in the 16th over. Parvez Hossain Emon led the charge with a blistering 56 off 39 balls, featuring five sixes and three fours, his second T20I fifty. Towhid Hridoy supported him well with 36 off 37 deliveries, including two sixes and two fours.

Debutant medium-pacer Salman Mirza showed promise, taking 2-23.

'We chose poor options'

Pakistan coach Mike Hesson offered a candid assessment of the performance after the match.

“We got off to a bit of a flyer with Fakhar playing a few shots and it gave us a false indication of how the pitch was behaving. Through the middle of the innings, we did not help ourselves. We chose poor options and once the ball began to nip and bounce, we failed to adapt. A couple of run-outs also hurt us,” Hesson told reporters.

He also criticized the condition of the Mirpur pitch.

“I do not think the pitch is ideal for anyone. It’s not acceptable. While it’s no excuse for some of our poor decisions with the bat this surface is not up to international standards,” he said.

“I am not here to fix Bangladesh cricket that’s not my job. But if were talking about raising the global standard of the game, pitches like this are not the way forward,” Hesson said.

Looking ahead to the second T20I which will be played at the same venue on Tuesday (tomorrow), Pakistan captain Agha Salman urged his batters to step up.

“Our bowlers did well but with such a low total to defend it was always going to be difficult,” Salman said.

“We started well with the bat but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. We will sit down, reflect, and aim to put in a better performance next time.”

He acknowledged the challenge of playing in Bangladeshi conditions.

“When you come to Bangladesh, you expect these kinds of pitches. We were prepared for that, but unfortunately, we did not execute. We needed to rotate the strike more effectively,” he said.