Fresh from an emphatic 4-1 triumph in the recently-concluded one-day series against Sri Lanka in the UAE, Pakistan  begins the opening game at the Shere-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur (a suburb of Dhaka) as hands down favorite.

With a stronger batting lineup and a potent bowling attack, perhaps the only two factors that can stop the rampaging Pakistanis from victory in the series opener are either a complacent attitude from the visitors or some really good performances by the home players.

Meanwhile, another talking point ahead of the first ODI is the tricky Mirpur wicket.

Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain, termed it as a ‘difficult’ pitch after his team beat Bangladesh by 50 runs in the tour-opening T20 game on Tuesday night.

"I think it was a difficult wicket to bat on," Misbah said. "There were some loose patches and the ball was just bouncing and turning and I think scoring 135 runs on this wicket was good enough.

"If you consider the wicket, I think the batsmen did a pretty good job for the way they got the start. There was a little tremble in the middle overs, which cut down the score by 10 to 12 runs. Scoring 140 or 150 would have been a brilliant job," he stressed.

"I think the game and the crowd demands more batting wickets for the game to become more entertaining. But I think these matters are not under the control of the players. We are professionals and should respect whatever wicket we get."

Meanwhile, there was good news for the home fans on Wednesday as it is expected that Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal will be fit to play Wednesday’s match.

Tamim had to sit out of the Twenty20 game at the last minute because of a knee injury. However Bangladesh coach Stuart Law said the knee had "responded well to the treatment and at this point it looks that he (Tamim) can take his place in the top order.”

Though the Mirpur track has drawn a lot of flak, Law doesn’t think that the pitch was the reason why Bangladesh were bowled out for a paltry 85 on Tuesday.

In fact he blamed his batters for the poor showing.

"There has to be some self blame in there as well," Law said. "We have to be able to score runs under difficult conditions to be able to beat good teams around the world."