When the schedule of the UAE series was announced, it was seen as a perfect preparation for the Bangladesh national cricket team ahead of the then five-match series against Pakistan.
The series was extended by an additional match midway through, as the status of the Pakistan series had become uncertain at that point.
However, the situation took a dramatic turn when Bangladesh lost the series 2-1. Rather than marking the beginning of a new era under Phil Simmons and Liton Das, the team suffered a decline and attracted considerable scrutiny.
The team struggled with inconsistent batting, subpar fielding, and underwhelming bowling.
In all three matches, Bangladesh batted first against the UAE. They successfully defended 191 runs in the first match but failed to do so when the stockpiles were 205 and 162, respectively.
As they are now heading for a now-reduced three-match series against Pakistan, once again the onus will be upon the bowlers, who have been the key figures in terms of winning matches for Bangladesh.
Since the start of 2024, Bangladesh have so far won 13 T20 internationals. Eight of those came while defending the target; five of those were under 160; the bowlers even defended a target of 106 runs against Nepal in this timeframe.
Out of the five matches Bangladesh won while chasing, four times the targets were below 140 runs. The highest they chased down successfully was a target of 166.
It鈥檚 quite evident that the bowlers did the winning job mostly for Bangladesh in recent times, and the failures were felt more so against the UAE.
Now the bowling department will have to face the Pakistan challenge without two of the most prominent figures.
Both Taskin Ahmed (21) and Mustafizur Rahman (19), who have been the leading wicket-takers for Bangladesh in the format when they won, will miss the Pakistan series.
Taskin is under the rehabilitation process from an Achilles injury, while Mustafiz was ruled out of the Pakistan series due to a thumb injury that he sustained while playing in the IPL on Saturday.
The BCB said in a statement that the clip fracture in the left thumb would keep Mustafiz out of action for at least two weeks.
National team physio Delowar Hossain Siva said that they would conduct a follow-up evaluation after two weeks to monitor his recovery progress.
Khaled Ahmed, who has played two white-ball games for Bangladesh and is yet to make his debut in T20I, was called up as Mutafiz鈥檚 replacement.
So the likes of Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan, and Tanzim Hasan will have to bear more responsibility in a venue which has been batting-friendly for a while.
Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore will host all three matches of the series where the average runs per six balls for the teams won since 2024 is 9.38.
In the final of the PSL, which was held on Sunday, Quetta Gladiators failed to defend 201 runs as the Lahore Qalandars鈥攚hich featured Rishad, Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz鈥攑revailed to win their third title in the last four seasons.
