Bangladesh Betrays India! BCB Gels Up With Pakistan By Announcing ODI Series

Mohsin Naqvi with Aminul Islam and Jay Shah in the middle [Source: X]

Amid the ongoing development of the Bangladesh Cricket Board willing to mend ties with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the former has announced Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh in 2026. Interestingly, the Pakistan cricket team will arrive for the tour on or before March 11.

However, given the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026, it is to be noted that the tour will be a single-format ODI series comprising three matches in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Announce Shocker Amid BCCI Bonding

This development might come as a shock to cricket enthusiasts since Bangladesh has been switching between Pakistan and India as per their diplomatic as well as sporting needs.

Ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026, they relied on Pakistan for their venue change demand. However, as soon as Bangladesh was ousted, they wanted to mend ties with India. Nevertheless, this gesture from the Bangladesh Cricket Board has confused cricket experts and netizens alike.

Also Read: India National Cricket Team To Visit Bangladesh For Bilaterals? BCB Speeds Up

Sports Minister’s Call For India Tie and Bilateral Series

A few days earlier, Bangladesh’s newly elected Sports Minister stated that they would like to progress in developing ties between Bangladesh and India, both sportingly, strategically, and diplomatically.

He also blamed the earlier administration for the T20 World Cup 2026 exit. The statement, as well as the intent, seemed positive from the Sports Minister. However, this recent move of playing with Pakistan adds a sense of dual credibility that Bangladesh is trying to seek from both Pakistan as well as India.

Let’s take a look at the official schedule of Bangladesh hosting Pakistan in 2026.

Bangladesh Announce ODI Series With Pakistan

All three matches of the ODI series will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium as day-and-night fixtures starting from 2:15 PM IST.

The first ODI is scheduled to be played on March 11, which indicates that no player from Pakistan’s T20I team has been confirmed for the first ODI as the ODI squad yet to be selected.

[Pakistan Tour Of Bangladesh 2026]

Since the T20 World Cup 2026 has games on March 8, there will likely be very little travel time for players to feature in the Bangladesh series if Pakistan reach the final of the tournament. The second ODI will be played on March 13, and the concluding ODI is scheduled for March 15.

Likely Squad Composition of Bangladesh and Pakistan

As for the squad composition, Bangladesh are likely to be led by skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz, with Najmul Hossain Shanto, Nurul Hasan, Tawhid Hridoy, and Tanzid Hasan expected to get the nod, alongside Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar, and pacers Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.

Since the Bangladesh team is not participating in the T20 World Cup 2026, their players and the squad called up are ready to play the Pakistan series.

However, in the case of Pakistan, if they reach the final, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, and Naseem Shah are almost out of contention for the ODI squad due to scheduling constraints.

With major players likely to be unavailable, it seems like Pakistan has made a decision, possibly a wrong one, to play Bangladesh without accounting for a potential qualification for the T20 World Cup 2026 final.

Pakistan-Bangladesh Affair Intensifies

Nevertheless, the schedules and squads are yet to be officially released, and the series is expected to be a high-intensity affair as Pakistan are set to clash with Bangladesh.

For the unaware, Pakistan were the only team that supported Bangladesh in their boycott of the T20 World Cup 2026 and became the sole voter backing their demand to change venues from India to Sri Lanka, citing security concerns due to a wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Islam sentiment in India.

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