Pakistan seek to carry on momentum against BD: Second One-day International
The hosts made a resounding start to the five-match series by winning the first match in Lahore on Tuesday by 152 runs, overall their 18th win against Bangladesh.
Mohammad Yousuf, Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar are at the brink of achieving different individual landmarks in the second match to be held under lights.
Yousuf, who struck a classic century in the series opener at Lahore, can make the Faisalabad match memorable for him by reaching the 9,000-run mark in ODIs if he manages to score 19 more runs on Friday.
The right-handed prodigy will then become the second highest run getter for Pakistan in the ODIs behind Inzamam-ul-Haq who has more than 11,000 runs under his belt.
Having scored 15 centuries and 61 half-centuries in 244 innings of the 257 ODIs he has played so far, Yousuf boasts a solid batting average of 43.59.
The pace duo of Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar are close to reach their 50 wickets in ODIs.
Umar, who has played 40 ODIs, requires only one wicket to achieve the landmark while Rao, having featured in 42 games, is three wickets away from the mark.
Umar, who has recently recovered from his back problem, could achieve the target in Lahore, but he sent down just five overs there and remained wicketless.
The pitch prepared for today’s match seems a perfect batting strip and the side winning the toss would, normally, would like to bat first and put a handsome total to keep the opposition under pressure.
However, Shoaib said he would take his decision just before the toss.
“I have not seen the pitch and will decide about batting first or not (just) before the toss,” the Pakistan captain said.
“Though the chances are to retain the winning combination, a final decision will be taken after the team management’s meeting with the selectors.”
The all-rounder expressed that Bangladesh are not easy opponents.
“We are not taking Bangladesh easy because they have come to Pakistan after playing a home series against the formidable South African side. Our priority is to win the series and so the focus is to remain on the right path.
“They (Bangladesh) were playing with one bowler short in the first match and I expect better performance from them in the coming matches,” he said.
Asked after playing against Zimbabwe recently, what advantages he saw from a series against another lowly-rated side like Bangladesh, Shoaib responded that all teams were equal, adding the contest would give Pakistan an opportunity to prepare for the Asia Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy.
Though the victory in the first ODI was comprehensive, Shoaib warned, the host team should avoid complacency in the remaining games.
Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful, meanwhile, hoped his team would fare better in Faisalabad, saying they would try not to give any easy time to their opponents.
“We have learnt from our mistakes and should not repeat those as it is the only way to get better; and my boys understand it well,” he said.
“In Lahore, we were short of one bowler, but we also could not play well there,” Ashraful added, promising his squad will give a better show in batting and bowling in the second game.
Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons said in the first match Pakistan had piled up a big total and any world-class team could face a slump in that scenario.
“Our morale is still high after losing the first match,” the coach said.
Teams (likely):
PAKISTAN: Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Shoaib Malik (captain), Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, Umar Gul.
BANGLADESH: Tamim Iqbal, Shahriar Nafees, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraful, Raqibul Hasan, Saqibul Hasan, Mahmudullah, Farhad Reza, Dhiman Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Mashrafe Mortaza, Abdur Razzak.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Steve Bucknor (West Indies).
TV umpire: Nadeem Ghauri (Pakistan).
Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).