Bangladesh will face Pakistan in a Group 2 match in the ongoing ICC World T20 2016 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata today (March 16). The match is scheduled to begin at 3.00pm local, 9.30 GMT.

Mustafizur Rahman, the left-arm pacer, is to likely to miss today's match; Abu Haider Rony will replace him. Arafat Sunny is also includded in the eleven. 

Bangladesh was dominant in the qualifiers, sealing its spot in the Super10s with a 54-run (D/L method) win over Oman. And before that, Tigers had a fine run in the Asia Cup, falling only behind India. It was a mark of how much the side has improved in recent times.’

‘Having already played three proper matches in India, Bangladesh has a measure of the conditions, and will know what to expect.’

‘Tamim Iqbal’s form at the top has been striking — against Oman, he became the first Bangladeshi to score a Twenty20 International century. Sabbir Rahman has also shown good touch, while Shakib Al Hasan has been amongst the wickets.’

Mashrafe said the team was confident. “Obviously, there is some confidence,” he said. “In the last one-and-a-half years, we played good cricket in ODIs, but T20Is were always difficult for us. But last three-four weeks we’ve been playing good cricket in T20Is. Confidence is there, and we want to make it count.’

“They (Pakistan) have more experience than us. In the last two months in this format, we’ve been having good practice back home; we had a good Asia Cup. We’ve planned better and have some exciting players in our side. But if you go over the history, Pakistan is much better.”

‘Mashrafe was insistent on making it count. And Pakistan will know that as things stand, Bangladesh is well placed to do so.’

Teams

Bangladesh (probable): Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Mahmudullah, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Sabbir Rahman, Mhd Mithun, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Taskin Ahmed.