Pakistan vs. Bangladesh, World T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

Bangladesh and Pakistan could not be more different. The former are out to prove that their cricket is on an upward curve in all formats, while the Green Shirts will be hoping for some consistency when the two sides open their ICC World Twenty20 campaigns on Wednesday.

Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Date: Wednesday, 16 March

Start time: 3:00 p.m local time (9:30 a.m GMT)

Live on: Channel 9 and Fox Sports (Australia), Ariana TV Network (Afghanistan), BTV (Bangladesh), ESPN Star and Star Sports (India), SkySports NZ (New Zealand), Sky Sports 2 (United Kingdom), Willow TV (subscription, USA and Canada), PTV Sports and Ten Sports (Pakistan), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN Sports (Middle East)

Weather:  Thunderstorms are a threat in Kolkata this time for year, but AccuWeather.com has given the all clear on the forecast. It's going to be hot and sticky during the day, though, with temperatures up to 34 degrees Celsius. 

Overview

It's been barely two weeks since Bangladesh and Pakistan met in the Asia Cup, and now the two sides will be at it again—this time in the World T20.

For Bangladesh, this is an opportunity to get their campaign off to a good start and show that their last two T20 victories over Pakistan were no fluke.

In context, Bangladesh probably have a slight upper hand considering they have just had to go through the first-round qualifying process.

Tamim Iqbal has been particularly impressive, scoring 233 runs in three matches, including a 50 and a century. Shakib Al Hasan did a decent job with the ball, taking six wickets at an average of 7.33 and an economy rate of 6.28.

The bad news for the Tigers is that Arafat Sunny and Taskin Ahmed were both reported for suspect bowling actions during their side's opening fixture and have had to undergo independent testing, per the Guardian. At the time of writing, the results are not yet known, but should either be banned, it will be a big blow for Bangladesh.

Pakistan, meanwhile, will view this fixture as an opportunity to shake off the grim results from the recently concluded Asia Cup.

Fixtures in T20 tournaments come around thick and fast, so both sides will be fighting for the momentum from the start.

Key players

Bangladesh

Shakib has proved time and time again that he is a clutch player for Bangladesh. He's the country's third-highest run scorer in the T20s in the last two years and the second-highest wicket taker.

Pakistan

Wahab Riaz has the ability to produce spellbinding stints of bowling even on wickets that aren't friendly to bowlers. The 30-year-old will be key to Pakistan's charge, but he will have to be careful as he has the tendency to leak runs.

Squads

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza, Abu Hider, Arafat Sunny, Mohammad Mithun, Nurul Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taskin Ahmed, Tamim Iqbal, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan, Al-Amin Hossain.

Pakistan: Anwar Ali, Wahab Riaz, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Akmal, Mohammad Sami, Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif, Ahmed Shehzad.