Bangladesh opt to bat first against Afghanistan

Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in their first match in the Asia Cup today at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

According to the pitch report, the pitch is on the slower side and the ball will hold up, meaning the advantage will be with Bangladesh as they are used to play in such kind of pitch back at home.

Shakib who began the captaincy in T20 format for the third time for Bangladesh looked happy with the outcome of the toss. “We will bat first. It will be difficult for Afghanistan, so that is what we will look to do,” Shakib said after winning the toss.

“We have three seamers and two spinners - so our bowling is pretty much covered. Afghanistan is a very good side in T20 format, we have prepared well for their bowlers hopefully we can show what we can do. We are all neighbouring countries in Asia Cup, everyone wants to watch us play each other so I am happy to be part of such a competition.”

Afghanistan however will be looking to confirm the Super four by winning this match after their crushing eight-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the first game. But the outcome of the toss seemed to make their job difficult as their captain Mohammad Nabi looked not so happy.

“The way we played last game was brilliant, the morale of the team is high and we want to play the same way today. Maybe the pitch will be a bit low today. We will look to keep them to a low total,” Nabi said.

Afghanistan didn’t bring up any changes from the squad that played against Sri Lanka. Bangladesh however fielded a new look opening pair with Naim Sheikh and Anamul Haque Bijoy opening the inning today.

The two teams met eight times in this format with Afghanistan leading the head-to-head battle 5-3.
Line Ups:

Bangladesh: Naim Sheikh, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Shakib Al Hasan(captain), Afif Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim(wk), Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman.

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi(captain), Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi.