When it comes to playing One-Day Internationals (ODIs), Bangladesh has maintained their dominance over their rivals in Asia, Afghanistan, by winning the bulk of the games.
However, Afghanistan has also been able to spring some surprises of their own, and this series is shaping up to be a dress rehearsal for the future matches between the two teams in two major tournaments: the Asia Cup and the World Cup. The first one-day international is taking place today at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
In one-day international competition, the Tigers have a record of seven wins and four losses versus Afghanistan. Additionally, they were victorious in both of the One-Day International World Cup matches that they played against Afghanistan. Tamim Iqbal, the captain of Bangladesh’s one-day international team, predicted that the next series against Afghanistan would be just as challenging as the last one, which the Tigers had won 2-1 at home the previous year. Bangladesh will play their first World Cup match in India against Afghanistan.
“It’s safe to say that they have one of the most formidable bowling offenses in the whole globe. After what transpired in the previous season, I wouldn’t expect anything less than that. We need to put up a tremendous amount of resistance. We can’t go into this game with the mindset that we’re going to win right away. It is to our advantage as we will compete against them a minimum of four times before the World Cup. I believe that it will be beneficial for both of the teams involved. Tamim said this at the press conference that took place on Tuesday. “They will also understand both our strengths and weaknesses,”
Due to the lack of notable players on either side, the teams’ relative strengths and weaknesses sometimes shift from game to game. However, Afghanistan will enter this match with a complete bowling assault. They have fast bowlers like Azmatullah Omarzai and Fazalhaq Farooqi, in addition to having world-class spin bowlers like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman in their lineup.
Tamim said that if his team performed well against a bowling assault similar to the one they would face in the World Cup, it would give them “the best possible confidence.”
Following his recuperation from back trouble, the spin magician Rashid was doing well, which was the most noteworthy piece of information to emerge from the Afghanistan camp. Rashid is doing well, since he is feeling better and is now free to participate in the games. During the news conference, the skipper, Hashmatullah Shahidi, made the following statement.
There was grass on the playing surface, which meant that the first few of overs of the innings may be challenging for the batsmen. “It appears to be a batting wicket,” she said. “Despite this, you need to have solid cricket skills,” Shahidi said.
While there is uncertainty about Tamim’s fitness, the Tigers will be hoping that their batters do better than their competitors in order to get a mental advantage for the important tournaments. Chattogram scores a lot of runs, and while there is uncertainty regarding Tamim’s health, Chattogram scores a lot.
The captain of the Afghan team provided the punchline for the discussion on the emphasis for the series by saying, “The good thing is that when we play these three games, you will know the players more than you do now.”