‘Hopefully he won’t be as effective as before’

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha is not worried, per se, about Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal being back in action, but hopes his Tigers will be able to handle him and whatever new action he brings to the middle.

Ajmal missed around six months of cricket after being banned for chucking, and this series against Bangladesh will be his first outing since being cleared. Hathurusingha says they will prepare for him, but mostly focus on the entire side.

Hathurusingha said: "We haven't seen him with the new action. Hopefully he won't be effective as before. But then again, we all have to respect his experience. How we handle him will be key to the outcome.

"Our plan is not for the players specifically. Our players have their own plan. As a team we have plans for every sort of situation. I know they have a very good bowling attack so we have to play well to beat them."

Pakistan have won all the encounters between the sides when playing in Bangladesh since 1988, but the coach feels that his side is a cohesive unit now, given their good World Cup run, and is confident of breaking that streak.

He said: "I won't say we have the upper hand because the records suggest they have been playing well in Bangladesh. Maybe it is the condition in the past. We have won once against them.

"But good thing is our team is playing as a team. We know our roles, and we are playing well. I think we will give them a good run this time."