Bangladesh, Pakistan clash with fate in their own hands

Having beaten Sri Lanka and lost to India, the fate of both Pakistan and Bangladesh lie in the upcoming do-or-die encounter in Dubai on Thursday.

Unlike Bangladesh, who made wholesale changes ahead of the clash against India, and still remain as uncertain of what their best combination is, Pakistan are better placed with their answers. The comfortable victory against Sri Lanka may not have erased their batting troubles, but they know better than their opposition that there isn't much scope to tinker around with, barring the one spot that Hussain Talat has held on to despite the presence of Hasan Nawaz and Khushdil Shah on the bench.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, will now play their second game in as many days when they turn up to face Pakistan. Apart from the forced change of Litton Das due to injury, Bangladesh have made changes galore in an attempt to find their best XI. The bowling attack did extremely well against India to concede only 96 runs in the last 14 overs of India's innings and Saif Hassan knocked off his second, consecutive, 50 but the rest of the batting order failed to contribute in the chase against India. They were also impressive in the field. But with the likes of Taskin Ahmed and Mahedi Hasan sitting out against India, it will be interesting to see whether Bangladesh continue to leave the experience on the bench in this all-important clash.

After being outclassed by India in all the contests so far, both teams have an opportunity to settle scores with the Suryakumar Yadav-led side in the final. And neither would want to miss an opportunity to have another go at them.

When: Thursday, September 25, 2025, 6:30 PM (Local Time)/8:00 PM (IST)

Where: Pakistan vs Bangladesh, Dubai International Cricket Stadium

What to expect: Scoring hasn't been easy with the ball holding on a bit, offering an interesting contest between bat and ball

Team News:

Pakistan: Despite the loss against India, Pakistan might not want to tinker too much with their combination. It, however, remains interesting to see if they would bring Saim Ayub back to open the innings. Even as Hussain Talat helped Pakistan over the line against Sri Lanka, Hasan Nawaz or Khushdil Shah could return to the side.

Probable XI: Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha (c), Hussain Talat/Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmad

Bangladesh: Litton Das's availability remains uncertain for the contest.

Probable XI: Saif Hassan, Tanzid Tamim, Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali (c,wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Rishad Hossain, Tanzim Sakib, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

What they said:

"Abrar has been bowling well. Whenever we are in a difficult situation, I go to him. Hope he can continue like this for many more seasons for Pakistan." - Salman Ali Agha, Pakistan captain

"We will wait till the last minute for Litton." - Bangladesh stand-in captain Jaker Ali after the game against India