Adjusting to Mirpur surface the concern now

The Bangladesh squad arrived in the country on Thursday following their 2-1 T20I series triumph against Sri Lanka on Wednesday. The Tigers, however, have little time to adjust to home conditions, with Pakistan already having arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday to play a three-match T20I series.

The Litton Das-led squad put in two fine performances to seize back the series after losing the first T20I timidly against the Lankans. Bangladesh will have an optional session on Friday, followed by a regular session on Saturday. Meanwhile, Pakistan will start their regular sessions from Friday ahead of the first match on July 20 in Mirpur.

Bangladesh can take quite a few positives from the Lankan T20Is, which followed disappointments in the Test and T20I series in Sri Lanka. But a month playing in away conditions may also have seen a few batters get into a certain rhythm -- something even home practice surfaces cannot usually offer, especially during this time of year with frequent rain.

Moreover, adding to the challenge would be the fact that Bangladesh have last played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, the venue for all three Pakistan T20Is, nine months ago. Their last game in Mirpur was a seven-wicket defeat to South Africa in October, 2024.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) cricket operations chairman Nazmul Abedeen Fahim conveyed a certain concern regarding how the wickets would turn out for the Pakistan series on Wednesday.

Litton also spoke about the series following Wednesday's triumph, and his concerns were similar.

"I don't know how the Mirpur wicket is going to behave for the Pakistan series. I think it's raining in Dhaka every day, so the wicket can be difficult for batting in such conditions. Batters may fail there, but we won't be too disappointed. We will keep trying to give our 100 percent," Litton said at the press conference on Wednesday in Colombo.

"It won't be easy taking on Pakistan in Mirpur. They have variety in their bowling attack. They also play a lot of BPL [Bangladesh Premier League], so they know our conditions quite well. I know that we can win matches against them if we play smart cricket," he added.

Low-bounce wickets do not pose as much of a problem to a team from the subcontinent as they do to teams from outside the region. But ahead of major events to come, Bangladesh batters need to hone their confidence to the point where they can finally click as a unit in high-stakes competitions. Wickets at home may not be the best answer for sharpening those abilities.

Bangladesh named an unchanged squad from the Sri Lanka tour for the Pakistan series yesterday. While consistency is now desired in terms of squad makeup, it remains to be seen how much the performances in this series can be evaluated for future purposes, particularly with upcoming assignments such as the Asia Cup in India.