New Delhi: Afghanistan started their Asia Cup campaign with a win over Sri Lanka. Shakib Al Hasan and his side will look out to start their campaign well as Asia Cup is an important tournament for the team. People are preferring Afghans to win the game after looking at a dipped T20I form for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has lost both the T20I series against West Indies and Zimbabwe. The team depends on the bowling while batters are unable to produce great runs. On the other hand, Afghanistan is doing well, though they are playing most of their games against comparatively weaker teams.
Bangladesh’s Squad Analysis
Shakib Al Hassan has returned as the captain and Mushfiqur Rahim will also be there to give experience and balance to the side. But their highest T20I run-scorer this year, Liton Das, misses the tournament due to an injury. Sabbir Rahman and Mohammad Naim are replacing Liton Das and Nurul Hasan in the squad. The team will depend on Mahmudullah’s hitting abilities.
Mustafizur Rahman will lead the pace attack. While he did not manage to take a wicket against West Indies, he picked four in three games against Zimbabwe. He has taken 23 wickets in 20 innings in the last year. Meanwhile, Shakib, who will play his 100th T20I, will lead the spin attack. He picked two wickets in two innings against the Windies.
Afghanistan Squad Analysis
There is no doubt that Afghanistan has great power hitters. Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 40 off 18 balls against Sri Lanka. If the Afghan batters can continue the form against Bangladesh’s quality bowling lineup, then more than half of the work is done for the team. The team has batting depth with Nabi and Rashid being good strikers of the ball.
Afghanistan has a strong spinning lineup with Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi, but it was the pace attack that stood out in the last game. Fazalhaq Farooqi struck with two consecutive wickets and Naveen-ul-Haq also took one to give their team a good start. Afghanistan now has a bowling attack that can deliver 20 good overs for them and that is a dangerous thing for the opposition.
Conclusion
Afghanistan, after the win over Sri Lanka, is the clear favourite. If Bangladesh picks up early wickets, then it has a good chance to take away the victory. Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah can also hit big in the middle and death overs.
