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The Bangladesh national team are set to begin a busy schedule in T20s, under new captain Liton Das, with the first of the two-match series against the host UAE at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday. 

The match is scheduled to begin at 9:00 pm Bangladesh Standard Time and T Sports will broadcast it live. 

The match is set to mark the return of Bangladesh in the T20I format after they last played against the West Indies in December last year. 

With the World Cup—which is scheduled to be played in India and Sri Lanka in February-March next year—in mind, Liton was given the captaincy for the long term after Najmul Hossain Shanto stepped down. 

Bangladesh are supposed to tour Pakistan for a five-match series after this one. The Tigers will have as many as 19 T20s plus the Asia Cup before the T20 World Cup. 

They have series against Sri Lanka, India, the West Indies, and Ireland slotted in the Future Tour Programme. 

That should give them ample opportunity to build up for a tournament where the records are no more than average for them. 

In fact, T20 remains the weakest link for the Bangladesh national team as far as international cricket is concerned. 

Batting has been their biggest concern in recent times, as it is in the other two formats. 

In 2024, Bangladesh were at the bottom of the list of collective averages and strike rates in T20s among the 12 full-member nations of the ICC. 

Liton, the new captain, has been struggling too with his batting. He scored only 17 runs against the Caribbean. However, he had a good outing in the last BPL, where he made 368 runs at an average of 36-80 and a strike rate of 143.19. 

Bangladesh have plenty of options in the top order in the likes of Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Liton, Shanto, and Parvez Hossain. 

Tanzid and Soumya are likely to open, while Liton and Shanto would follow in the order. The middle order is more settled than the top, with Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, and Jaker Ali suited there. 

Rishad Hossain and the newly appointed vice-captain Mahedi Hasan could bring some fireworks in the end. 

Bowling, however, is the main strength in T20s. The pace attack is composed of the experienced Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam and Nahid Rana. 

Mustafiz, though, will miss the first match, as he has been granted an NOC to play in the Indian Premier League. Nahid is yet to make his international T20 debut. 

Rishad, along with Mahedi and Tanvir Islam, are the options in the spin department for Bangladesh. Shamim and Soumya can also roll their arms. 

But the absence of an out-and-out all-rounder will certainly hamper the balance for Bangladesh. The selector also admitted that they would have to cope up until someone stepped forward. 

The UAE are also set to return to the T20I format after almost five months. They are, however, not unknown to Bangladesh, as they had played a two-match series in 2022. 

Overall, Bangladesh are yet to drop a match against them, as they won all three previous outings.