DHAKA - A series win for Bangladesh in ODIs is rare but their 79-run triumph over Pakistan in the first one-dayer at Mirpur not only ended their 16-year-wait, but it also sees them standing at the cusp of registering their first bilateral series win against their Asian neighbours.
So far, 12 of Bangladesh's 16 bilateral series wins have come against Zimbabwe (8), Ireland (1), Scotland (1) and Kenya (2) - the remaining four came against New Zealand and West Indies (two each), and now is the chance for Shakib Al Hasan and his men to script a perfect follow-up to a successful World Cup campaign.
Pakistan's beginning in the post-Misbah-Afridi era wasn't the most convincing. In fact, they were hammered left, right and center. Barring Wahab Riaz, no other bowler looked threatening. Saeed Ajmal, playing his first international match in over four months, conceded his worst ODI figures and that is a worrying sign. The batting looked encouraging in bits and pieces with Azhar Ali leading from the front with a half-century, but more solidarity is required in that department if they are to stage a comeback and level the series.
Will Bangladesh risk altering a side which ended their 16-year drought? The straightforward answer is no. Stick to the winning combination that took the field in the first ODI and back it to put in a repeat performance. Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza laughed when he was asked if it would be wise to break the winning combination from the first ODI against Pakistan. Having served a one-match ban, Mashrafe is set to return for the second ODI on Sunday, which will be his 150th in the format.
There won't be more than the one change, though. Abul Hasan will be making way for Mashrafe, and it will be a justified change in terms of performance too. Abul erred in line and length, giving away 42 runs in five overs. Mashrafe has been the bedrock of the bowling attack for more than a decade, and will be a welcome addition to complement the promise of Taskin Ahmed and the renewed verve of Rubel Hossain.
Mashrafe said that the breakthroughs effected by Taskin and left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny were vital to Bangladesh's cause, and so were the number of dot balls that built pressure on Pakistan in a steep chase of 330.
But Mashrafe was wary of the Pakistan batsmen, saying that the chase could have followed the pattern of the 2014 Asia Cup game, where Pakistan successfully chased down 327. He wants the bowling attack to bowl how they did on Friday and start building pressure from the first few overs.
"It could have gone that way yesterday too," Mashrafe said. "They were building partnerships, scoring at six per over. In this day and age, anything is possible if you have wickets in hand in the later stages. Sunny's breakthroughs were important. The game changed with Taskin's two wickets. I think everyone tried hard. We bowled 135 [130] dot balls. We started well with the ball, which was most important and this is what we have to do in the next match too."
Mashrafe was also keen to see his batsmen quickly adjust to their new places in the batting line-up and heed to the needs of the team. In the last game, Soumya Sarkar opened with Tamim Iqbal, which meant that Mahmudullah batted at No. 3 and was followed by Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman and Nasir Hossain.

SQUADS

PAKISTAN (PROBABLES): Azhar Ali (capt), Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), M Hafeez, Haris Sohail, M Rizwan, Fawad Alam, Saad Nasim, Wahab Riaz, Saeed Ajmal/ Zulfiqar Babar, Junaid Khan, 11 Rahat Ali/Umar Gul

BANGLADESH (PROBABLES): Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Shakib
Al Hasan (capt), Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mashrafe Mortaza, Arafat
Sunny, Taskin Ahmed.
"The batting order is merely a number. It doesn't matter who bats where," Mashrafe said. "We believe in this, and that's what our coach has been telling us. One has to play according to the need of the team. Everyone has been told to be ready for this mentality. I think our team balance is quite good. Because we opened with Soumya, everyone has had a step up in their place in the order. We consider wicket and condition while setting our team. Bowlers have to focus more on their job when we pick four bowlers instead of five. So everyone has to adjust to the situation." As if the injuries to Sohail Khan, Sohaib Maqsood and Yasir Shah weren't enough to weaken their bowling line-up, the newest to that list is Ehsan Adil. Though he wasn't picked for the first ODI, the fact that their bowling was all over the place must have made him a strong contender for Sunday's game. Yasir's last-minute injury meant that Pakistan went ahead with just one specialist spinner in Saeed Ajmal. The legspinner's replacement, Zulfiqar Babar can get the nod to partner Ajmal in the attack. And Adil’s replacement Umar Gul can also make it to playing eleven.