Afghanistan’s center order in focus as Bangladesh enter knockout territory
Big image: Knockout sport for Bangladesh
One crew gears up for its opening fixture. The different already finds itself in must-win territory. The Asia Cup started simply 4 days in the past and is a brief event with simply six groups collaborating, which has left Bangladesh staring on the prospect of elimination whereas Afghanistan are nearly getting began.
All the highlight to date has been on the India-Pakistan rivalry and the Naagin derby, however Afghanistan and Bangladesh are additionally able to producing a spicy contest. The stress, although, will squarely be on Bangladesh, who seemed rusty in their opening game. The batters, barring Najmul Hossain Shanto, seemed feeble, and the bowlers did not put in sustained stress.
The motion now strikes to Lahore, comparatively unknown terrain for each side. Bangladesh final performed an ODI on the Gaddafi Stadium again in 2008, with Mushfiqur Rahim being the only participant from that squad who will prove on Sunday. For Afghanistan, it will likely be their first-ever worldwide sport in Pakistan.
Afghanistan come into this contest on the again of a 0-3 loss to Pakistan and rather a lot will rely on how their high order goes. They are closely depending on Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmat Shah, who’ve scored the majority of the runs in ODIs since the start of 2022. Get by way of them, and Bangladesh will really feel they’ve the higher hand. To add to their woes, Rahmat has been off form and was even dropped for the second and third ODIs towards Pakistan.
In the center order, there’s Riaz Hassan, who’s simply 5 video games into his ODI profession, Najibullah Zadran, who’s getting back from a knee harm, and Karim Janat, who hasn’t performed an ODI in six years. Afghanistan will, nevertheless, achieve confidence from the truth that they defeated Bangladesh in an ODI series not too long ago.
Form information
Afghanistan LLLLW (final 5 ODIs, most up-to-date first)
Bangladesh LWLLW
In the highlight: Ibrahim Zadran and Shakib Al Hasan
Ibrahim Zadran has had a stellar begin to his ODI profession. In simply 17 innings, he has scored three half-centuries and 4 centuries, all of which have come since June 2022. With 827 runs in 16 ODIs at 59.07, Ibrahim is the very best run-getter for Afghanistan for the reason that begin of 2022.
The highlight is usually on Shakib Al Hasan throughout a Bangladesh sport however there might be particularly excessive expectations from him on Sunday. He’s been persistently efficient with the ball, however Bangladesh will want Shakib the batter to return good. While he doesn’t have a terrific document towards Afghanistan, he has sufficient expertise enjoying their bowlers in internationals in addition to in franchise cricket, and might want to convey all of that out into play to information a younger unit.
Team news: Will Bangladesh persist with the identical XI?
Mustafizur Rahman got here into the competitors combating a knee niggle and bowled simply three overs towards Sri Lanka. There is an opportunity that Bangladesh may wish to relaxation him and play the quick bowler Hasan Mahmud. They may also look to herald Anamul Haque rather than one of many two inexperienced openers.
Bangladesh XI (possible): 1 Mohammad Naim, 2 Tanzid Hasan/Anamul Haque, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Shakib Al Hasan (capt), 5 Towhid Hridoy, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 8 Mahedi Hasan/Afif Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman/Hasan Mahmud, 11 Shoriful Islam
Najibullah is prone to stroll again into the XI after an harm layoff, whereas Afghanistan may also wish to usher in Rahmat for his expertise.
Afghanistan XI (possible): 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Riaz Hassan/Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Najibullah Zadran, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Karim Janat, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Fazalhaq Farooqi, 11 Abdul Rahman
Pitch and situations
Clear blue skies are anticipated in Lahore in the beginning of the encounter, with the temperature prone to be across the 25-degree mark because the night kicks in. There is not any forecast for rain. Batters have made merry on the Gaddafi Stadium in current occasions. Scores of 300 had been breached in three of the six innings when Australia visited for an ODI collection final 12 months. More not too long ago, in April this 12 months, New Zealand and Pakistan additionally performed numerous high-scoring T20Is right here.