Bangladesh v Afghanistan, 1st ODI, Preview: Bangladesh hopes to continue dominance at home

Bangladesh will be eager to get off to a winning start when they take on Afghanistan in the first ODI of the three-match series beginning on Sunday at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka. The upcoming series is of high importance for Bangladesh. They will hope to put up some inspiring performances to stay in a positive frame of mind before meeting a much stronger opponents England.

Afghanistan has come with a whole new side full of young faces. This will be a good chance for those players to gain international exposure. The series will be tough for the rising Asian giants as beating Bangladesh in Bangladesh will be an uphill task. In the recent past, Bangladesh has emerged as an unbeatable side in home conditions and some of the top ranked teams have failed to overcome their challenge.

Therefore, the Afghans have to be in top-notch form if they hope to create any upset. Bangladeshis are hardcore cricket lovers and a strong sense of excitement will be in the air. Therefore, a full house is expected tomorrow to witness international cricket resume in the country after a long break of close to six months.

Bangladesh:

Bangladesh will be keen to continue their dominant record at home. The year 2015 was a golden year for the Bangla Tigers. They were completely unbeatable overcoming the stronger opponents like India, Pakistan and South Africa. They are coming back to international cricket after a long time. They last played during the T20 World Cup against in India last year and their last ODI came in 2015. So, the upcoming ODI will be a refreshing start for the Bangladeshis.

However, despite the lack of international games, there was no lack of fixtures for the players as they kept themselves very playing the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League tournament and CPL. The likes of Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nasir Hossain and Mahmudullah have been amongst the runs in the List A competition, while most of the bowlers also had a productive time during the off-season.

Afghanistan may not look threatening but they can pull off surprises. Therefore, taking them lightly is not an option. The team composition looks solid despite the absence of some of the rising names. Star left armer Mustafizur Rahman will be unavailable due to a shoulder injury. The chances of Taskin Ahmed and Arafat Sunny finding a place in the team looks bleak despite both of them getting their actions cleared by the ICC. Al-Amin Hossain is also another surprising exclusion.

The experienced duo of Rubel Hossain and Shafiul Islam will lead the bowling attack with Mashrafe Mortaza in-charge. Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam are expected to form the spin attack. The batting order is quite similar the same with the likes of Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah forming the core of the line-up.

Probable XI

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mahmudullah, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan , Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Taijul Islam, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain

Afghanistan:

Afghanistan began their preparations by securing a comfortable 66-run victory over the BCB XI. The Afghans have flown into Bangladesh with three uncapped players – Naveen-ul-Haq, Ihsanullah and Karim Janat – in the side which will be led by Asghar Stanikzai.

It will be interesting to see which players make the cut. For the sake of prediction, as of now, it seems that only all-rounder Karim Janat, who featured in the practice match and bowled an economical spell of 1/28, will be the only one to find the place in the team. 21-year-old Hashmatullah Shahid is another exciting name in the line-up.

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The team, however, has retained the core unit. Opener Mohammad Shahzad, all-rounders Mohammad Nabi, Mirwais Ashraf and Rashid Khan along with Asghar Stanikzai form the backbone of the side and will have important roles to play tomorrow.

Probable XI:

Asghar Stanikzai (C), Mohammad Shahzad (WK), Ihsanullah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Dawlat Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Fareed Ahmad, Amir Hamza, Karim Janat

Match Details:

When: September 25, 2016
Start time: 14: 30 local (08: 30 GMT)
Venue: Shere Bangla International Stadium

Stats:

• Bangladesh and Afghanistan have won one match each in the two ODIs between them.
• Mushfiqur Rahim needs 80 runs to become the third batsman from Bangladesh after Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan to reach 4000 runs in ODIs.
• Shakib Al Hasan needs two wickets to go past Abdul Razzaq (207) to become the leading wicket-taker for Bangladesh in ODIs.