In today’s crucial Asia Cup match at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore against Afghanistan, Bangladesh is anticipated to encounter a more formidable opponent.
The primary area of worry was still batting, as shown by the Tigers’ dismal performance in the first game, when they were bowled out for a pitiful 164 by a very inexperienced Sri Lankan bowling attack. Afghanistan is always a threat to make even the top teams fight for their runs since they have two elite spinners in Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
But it seems like Fazalhaq Farooqi may be a bigger danger to the Tigers’ weak top-order. The 22-year-old Farooqi has been particularly deadly versus Bangladesh lately. In July of this year, they defeated the Tigers 2-1 on the road, and Farooqi took eight wickets and two three-wicket stretches.
In six games against Bangladesh, Farooqi claimed 14 wickets overall at an economy of 4.46. In addition to providing the early advantage, the left-arm seamer confused the Tigers hitters with deadly full-pitched pitches that might go either way.
Though he is conscious of the danger posed by the Afghan bowling unit, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha is certain that the Tigers’ batsmen can win the crucial Asia Cup encounter.
“Afghanistan has one of the greatest bowling attacks in the world, but it’s difficult. Our guys had some success when we recently played against them. Thus, everything relies on how well you execute that day. Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha addressed the reporters yesterday, “We are very much aware of the challenge that we are going to face.”
The Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore is the venue for the game, and pacers have traditionally had the upper hand over spinners in 64 ODIs, taking 519 wickets to 239, so it will be interesting to see how the Bangladeshi batsmen handle a player like Farooqi.
Seeing as how Afghanistan is going to play, it would be interesting to see whether the Bangladesh team management goes with a different lineup.
“We haven’t seen the wicket yet; we just got here. We would consider a different combination without a doubt if the pitch and conditions here are different, Hathurusingha said.
Bangladesh’s hopes of making it to the Super Four stage will be preserved if they defeat Afghanistan, but they will also have to depend on the net run-rate to advance.
“We must go to the second round before considering the championship match. Because of what transpired in the last game versus Sri Lanka, this one is crucial.
We obviously realize that this is a game that we have to win because we didn’t play to our full capacity and didn’t do a good enough job of representing ourselves in the previous game. However, we are certain that we will play our best game tomorrow [today] against Afghanistan,” the Bangladeshi coach said.