Tigers face UAE today to continue T20 domination

In a bid to continue its recent rejuvenation in the shortest format of the game, Bangladesh will take on United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the two-match series opening T20 match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today (Saturday), report agencies.
The match will starts at 9pm (Bangladesh Time), will be broadcast live on T-Sports.
Litton Das will lead Bangladesh as permanent captain for the first time in this match. His shrewd leadership was key in Bangladesh's historical 3-0 whitewash against West Indies on Caribbean soil in December last year, which was the side's last assignment in this format.
Even though Litton was out of sorts with the willow in the Caribbean tour, his tactical nous as a captain was so impressive that the management kept faith in him and gave him the captaincy on a permanent basis in this format.
However, Litton , Bangladesh's newly-appointed T20I skipper, has admitted that his team will look to stick to their strengths instead of focusing on any specific brand of cricket.
"I am not going to talk about a particular brand of cricket. We might need to chase 180-200 in some games, and 140-145 in other games. The ultimate goal is to win the game," Litton said ahead of the UAE series during his first presser as a long-term T20I captain.
"A batter might need to score 40 off 20 balls in one game, and 15 off 20 in the next game. I want every player to be involved in the game. What the team needs from me, is what the players must understand. It is more important for the player to know how to win a game, rather than stick to a brand of cricket.
"For the Bangladesh team to go ahead, the players have to perform. They have to play their specific roles. I have to communicate well with the players, more than talking to the BCB. The more time I get, the more I'll get involved in team matters," he said.
"I have played for a long time, so I will try to pick the best out of the captains that I have played under, and it will help me to understand players better, and also get the best out of them," he said.
It remains to be seen whether Litton can take the team forward with his philosophy and lead by example as he is set to begin his campaign as the T20I leader with the upcoming two-match series against UAE.
The series opener is scheduled to begin in Sharjah from May 17, while the series-concluding second game is set to be played on May 19. Bangladesh also have a five-match series against Pakistan lined up later this month, subject to players' consent. The Bangladesh government has given them the go-ahead to play the series.
With the team going through a transitional period, Litton's leadership skills will be under the scanner in the coming days as he is set to mark the beginning of a new era of Bangladesh in T20 cricket, with an eye on the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup.
Meanwhile, UAE will have little time to recalibrate to T20 mode after their trip for to the Netherlands for the Cricket World Cup League 2 matches, where they were beaten by both the hosts and Scotland, winning just one game in the last two weeks. Rahul Chopra's century and Simranjeet Singh's four-wicket haul in a match against Scotland were the only real high points from the tour for UAE. They should, however, feel better playing T20Is, their best format.
Their good form in the format helped them qualify for this year's Asia Cup after they dominated the Asian Cricket Council's Premier Cup last year. But UAE haven't really played a lot of cricket against the Full-Member teams. Afghanistan beat them 2-1 in their bilateral series in 2023-24. They also beat New Zealand in 2023, while they lost a similar two-match series against Bangladesh in 2022.
Squads: Bangladesh: Liton Das (captain), Mahedi Hasan, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Parvez Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali Anik, Rishad Hossain, Tanvir Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana, and Shoriful Islam.
UAE: Muhammad Waseem (captain), Alishan Sharafu, Aryansh Sharma, Asif Khan, Dhruv Parashar, Ethan D'Souza, Haider Ali, Matiullah Khan, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Zohaib, Muhammad Zuhaib, Rahul Chopra, Saghir Khan, Sanchit Sharma and Simranjeet Singh.