Afghanistan’s middle order in focus as Bangladesh enter knockout territory today (03)

One team gears up for its opening fixture. The other already finds itself in must-win territory. The Asia Cup began just four days ago and is a short tournament with just six teams participating, which has left Bangladesh staring at the prospect of elimination while Afghanistan are just about getting started.

All the spotlight so far has been on the India-Pakistan rivalry and the Naagin derby, but Afghanistan and Bangladesh are also capable of producing a spicy contest. The pressure, though, will squarely be on Bangladesh, who looked rusty in their opening game.  The batters, barring Najmul Hossain Shanto, looked feeble, and the bowlers failed to put in sustained pressure.

The action now moves to Lahore, relatively unknown terrain for both sides. Bangladesh last played an ODI at the Gaddafi Stadium back in 2008, with Mushfiqur Rahim being the sole player from that squad who will turn out on Sunday. For Afghanistan, it will be their first-ever international game in Pakistan.

Afghanistan come into this contest on the back of a 0-3 loss to Pakistan and a lot will depend on how their top order goes. They are heavily dependent on Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah, who have scored the bulk of the runs in ODIs since the start of 2022.  Get through them, and Bangladesh will feel they have the upper hand. To add to their woes, Rahmat has been out of form and was even dropped for the second and third ODIs against Pakistan.

In the middle order, there’s Riaz Hassan, who is just five games into his ODI career, Najibullah Zadran, who is returning from a knee injury, and Karim Janat, who hasn’t played an ODI in six years. Afghanistan will, however, gain confidence from the fact that they defeated Bangladesh in an ODI series recently.

Bangladesh will need to be careful early, especially against the left-arm pace of Fazalhaq Farooqi  who did the most damage in that ODI series.

Afghanistan XI (probable): Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan/Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman,  Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman

Bangladesh XI (probable): Mohammad Naim, Tanzid Hasan/Anamul Haque,  Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk),  Mehidy Hasan Miraz,  Mahedi Hasan/Afif Hossain,  Taskin Ahmed,  Mustafizur Rahman/Hasan Mahmud,  Shoriful Islam