HAVING begun Mike Hesson’s era as head coach with a convincing home Twenty20 series victory against Bangladesh, Pakistan now face an away test against their South Asian rivals in a three-game series starting Sunday. The matches against Bangladesh will see the team’s preparations for next year’s Twenty20 World Cup, with Salman Ali Agha’s charges set to play 18 matches of the game’s shortest format across six bilateral series as well as the T20 Asia Cup before the global showpiece begins in February. Mike Hesson and Salman have emphasised a refreshing approach for the side, as evident in the home series against Bangladesh, with Pakistan in attack mode — a far cry from their traditional no-risk style. That did bring some success, but the evolving nature of the Twenty20 format meant it was time for a change.

However, while Pakistan have set their sights on the challenges of the future, they have still not gone beyond the recent past. Before departing for Bangladesh, skipper Salman had to make it clear that his predecessors Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi remained part of Pakistan’s plans for the World Cup. The question, however, is: how will batters Babar and Rizwan fit in with the team’s new gung-ho approach. Hesson has repeatedly stated he wants Pakistan’s cricket team to be ‘good to watch’. All the batters picked for the Bangladesh series are those with high strike rates. With Pakistan due to play all their matches of the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, there has been focus on selecting more spinners and spin-bowling all-rounders for the series. Hosts Bangladesh head into the match-ups on a high after a T20 series win in Sri Lanka. It will be a challenge for Pakistan, but offers them a chance to test new combinations. The hope is that they continue in the same vein as in the home series against Bangladesh and build momentum ahead of the World Cup.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2025