ICC World Cup 2019: Pakistan vs Bangladesh warm-up match details, venue stats and team news

The ICC World Cup 2019 is less than a week away, and the cricketing world just can’t keep calm. From fans to pundits, the excitement and anticipation have been overwhelming.

With the official tournament set to start on 30th May, all the teams are sweating it out in the warm-up games to get into the right rhythm. Bangladesh will play their first practice match against Pakistan, at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.

Pakistan have been struggling to maintain a foothold in limited-overs cricket over the last few years. After the 5-0 whitewash against Australia, they were also hammered in their subsequent series against England.

Captain Sarfaraz Ahmed will be under intense scrutiny if they lose both their warm-up games, having already lost to Afghanistan in the first one.

Babar Azam and Imam-ul-Haq have been consistently performing well for the Green Army, but their bowling department needs to step up in times of adversity. Pakistan would be hoping for an improved performance against Bangladesh to end their losing streak.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh are being touted as the dark horses in this edition of the World Cup. Mashrafe Mortaza has a bunch of exciting players who can outplay any team on their day.

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman and Mushfiqur Rahim will have the responsibility to score a majority of the runs, while the performance of the world's No. 1 ODI all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will also be pivotal to Bangladesh’s success in this World Cup.

Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman will spearhead the pace attack, but Bangladesh seem to lack effective variety and wicket-taking spin options in the middle overs.

Match details

Date: Sunday, 26th May 2019

Time: 03:00 PM IST

Venue: Sophia Gardens, Cardiff

League: ICC World Cup 2019

Live Telecast: Star Network

Online Streaming: Hotstar

Venue stats

Avg 1st Innings score: 227

Avg 2nd Innings score: 216

Highest Total: 342/8 (50 Ov) by Eng vs AUS

Lowest Total: 138/10 (37.5 Ov) by SL vs NZ

Highest Chased: 304/6 (48.2 Ov) by PAK vs Eng

Lowest Defended: 169/10 (23.3 Ov) by Eng vs NZ

Team news

Pakistan

Asif Ali might come back to feature in this last practice game before the World Cup.

Bangladesh

- Soumya Sarkar is expected to partner Tamim Iqbal at the top of the order, ahead of Liton Das.

- Mehidy Hasan and Shakib Al Hasan will be the X-factors for the Bangladesh Tigers in this tournament.

Squads

Pakistan

Sarfaraz Ahmed (c & wk), Shoaib Malik, Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Fakhar Zaman, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain

Bangladesh

Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal

Key players

Pakistan

- Imam-ul-Haq

- Babar Azam

- Wahab Riaz

Bangladesh

- Tamim Iqbal

- Mushfiqur Rahim

- Shakib Al Hasan