Pakistan Set to Host Bangladesh After Conflict with India

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently announced an all-new schedule for the planned T20I series vs Bangladesh. Pakistan’s T20 squad were to play five (5) T20I games vs the visiting Bangladesh side. However, the new schedule will now see only three games played from May 28, 2025 to June 1, 2025.

Changes to the original schedule became necessary after Pakistan was engaged in a short but brutal military conflict against India. Hostilities involving the neighbouring countries led to this series’ postponement by Pakistan’s cricket governing body.

Several Big-Name Players Left Out of Pakistan Squad for T20I Series

The PCB is hell-bent on changing Pakistan’s cricket fortunes on the pitch, even if this involves shitting out senior players. Several cricketers who established their relevance in previous teams could not make their way into the PCB’s recently-announced T20I squad. The most obvious absentees are Shaheen Shah Afridi and former captain Babar Azam.

Salman Agha takes the captain’s duties and will rely on support from his teammates to re-energise Pakistan’s charge for T20I dominance against Bangladesh.

High-Profile Bangladesh Players Miss Out on Final T20I Squad vs Pakistan

Bangladesh selectors dropped several players from their shortlist after weeks of decision-making. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) decided to leave some popular names out while others failed to make the list due to injury or poor form.

Soumya Sarkar

Sarkar was part of the initial squad selected to face Pakistan, but the Bangladesh batter will play no part in the upcoming Test series. A sudden back injury rules him out of action against Pakistan and he will be replaced by Mehidy Hassan Miraz.

Bangladesh’s physio Bayjedul Islam Khan revealed that Sarkar will be out of action for up to 12 days, ruling him out of the series vs Pakistan:

“Following medical evaluation, it has been determined that the injury requires an extended rehabilitation period of approximately 10 to 12 days,” he said. “This effectively means that he will not be available for next week’s three-match series in Pakistan.”

Mustafizur Rahman

Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman will also not be a part of his country’s squad to Pakistan after sustaining a thumb injury. Delowar Hossain (team physio) confirmed this development after assessing Rahman’s injury situation:

“Mustafizur suffered a clip fracture on his left thumb while playing his last match of the Indian Premier League yesterday,” he said. “This injury requires a period of rest and rehabilitation. As per our current assessment, he will be unavailable for selection for the next two to three weeks. We will conduct a follow-up evaluation after two weeks to monitor his recovery progress,” he added.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh T20I Head-to-Head Records

Pakistan leads the T20I head-to-head records between both countries. The Men in Green has won 16 out of 19 meetings in the format against their opponents. Bangladesh won their most-recent meeting (Oct 2023) in the format and secured two victories in April 2015 and March 2016.

Pakistan Full T20I Series Squad vs Bangladesh

Salman Agha (c) (all-rounder), Abrar Ahmed (bowler), Faheem Ashraf (bowling all-rounder), Fakhar Zaman (opening batter), Haris Rauf (bowler), Hasan Ali (bowler), Hasan Nawaz (top-order batter), Hussain Talat (all-rounder), Irfan Khan (middle-order batter), Khushdil Shah (all-rounder), Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper batter), Mohammad Wasim (bowler), Naseem Shah (bowler), Saim Ayub (top-order batter), Sahibzada Farhan (middle-order batter), Shadab Khan (all-rounder)

Bangladesh Full T20I Series Squad vs Pakistan

Hasan Mahmud (bowler), Jaker Ali (wicketkeeper batter), Litton Das (c) (wicketkeeper batter), Mahedi Hasan (vc) (allrounder), Mustafizur Rahman (bowler), Najmul Hossain Shanto (top-order batter), Parvez Hossain Emon (wicketkeeper batter), Rishad Hossain (allrounder), Shamim Hossain (allrounder), Shoriful Islam (bowler), Soumya Sarkar (batting allrounder), Tanvir Islam (bowler), Tanzid Hasan (opening batter), Tanzim Hasan Sakib (bowling allrounder), Towhid Hridoy (top-order batter)

Pakistan vs Bangladesh T20I Series 2025 Schedule