BAN vs AFG Match Preview– Asia Cup 2023, Match 4. The BAN vs AFG Asia Cup 2023 match will be played in Lahore on Sunday, September 3. The match begins at 3 pm IST which is 2.30 pm local time. This is Bangladesh’s second game of the campaign while the first for Afghanistan. Bangladesh lost their opening match to Sri Lanka. The Tigers were bowled out for 164. The Lankans chased the score down in 39 overs and with five wickets to spare.
Bangladesh is led by Shakib Al Hasan. He replaced Tamim Iqbal after the latter stepped down from captaincy and was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. Litton Das, who missed Bangladesh’s first game due to illness is now ruled out due to viral fever. Anamul Haque was named as his replacement.
Bangladesh have a good bowling attack with spin leading the charge. Mehidy Hasan Miraz is the fellow spinner with Nasum Ahmed being the third spinner. Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, and Shoriful Islam will be their specialist pacers.
They have two young and upcoming batters Towhid Hridoy and Nazmul Hosasin Shanto. The openers need to give their team a good start and will be tested against the Afghanistan batters.
Afghanistan is led by Hasmatullah Shahidi. With Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Afghanistan perhaps boasts of the best spin attack in the tournament. Fazalhaq Farooqi is the specialist seamer and the Afghans need to find a backup for him in the tournament going forward.
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It is their batting that needs to step up as it is too top-heavy. Rahmaullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran have done most of the scoring and the middle order needs to chip in if Afghanistan are to go the distance in the tournament.
BAN vs AFG Match Preview– Asia Cup 2023, Match 4
Bangladesh
Bangladesh are the finalists of the 2012, and 2018 editions but are yet to win the tournament. This is their big chance to win a major trophy ahead of the ICC World Cup 2023. The BAN vs AFG match is expected to be an exciting encounter as the two best spin attacks take on each other.
As said above Bangladesh are missing Litton Das who is ruled out of the tournament due to viral fever. Das is Bangladesh’s top run-getter in the last two years. He has been replaced by Anamul Haque. The Tigers have failed to seize the big moments in big tournaments and this is where they need to better themselves.
The Tigers need to finish in the top two to progress to the Super 4s in a group where they have Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. They did not make the final four in the last edition of the Asia Cup and would want to change that stat this year possibly by winning the title.
Bangladesh Squad
Shakib Al Hasan (c), Anamul Haque Bijoy, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Naim Sheikh, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Tanzim Hasan Sakib
Afghanistan
Afghanistan were whitewashed by Pakistan heading into the Asia Cup. The series exposed their batting weakness while it proved that bowling is still their strong suit. With the likes of Rashid, Nabi, and Mujeeb Afghanistan ideally, would want their batters to score over 250 at least.
This is where the return of Najibullah Nadran should act as a boost in the middle-order. He along with Nabi needs to share the responsibility of scoring in the middle-overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz who was in good form against Pakistan in the recent ODI series holds the key at the top along with Ibrahim Zadran.
Afghanistan defeated both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the league stage of Asia Cup 2022 but failed to win games in the Super 4. This tournament will test Afghanistan’s batting depth and whether they can keep their nerves in pressure situations.
Afghanistan Squad
Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Abdul Rahman, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Suliman Safi, Fazalhaq Farooqi
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