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Asia Cup 2022: Shakib Al Hasan returns as Bangladesh begin campaign against confident Afghanistan

These may be early days at the 2022 Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates, but Afghanistan showcased what they could do on their day with both bat and ball, with their eight-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the tournament-opener on Saturday.

Three days later, on Tuesday, Mohammad Nabi-led Afghanistan meet Shakib Al Hasan’s Bangladesh as the Asia Cup caravan heads to Sharjah.

This will be Bangladesh’s opening game of the tournament, and Tuesday’s match will be followed by another group game against Sri Lanka, on Thursday.

Against Sri Lanka, it seemed as though Afghanistan were the most superior side who were on top of the game. Although spinner Rashid Khan failed to register himself among the wicket-takers, he was very economical, ending with figures of 0/12 from four overs.

Fazalhaq Farooqi stole the show for Afghanistan with the new ball, registering figures of 3/11 from four overs against Sri Lanka, which is his best figures in T20I cricket. Spinners Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman too delivered their full quota of four overs, returning with figures of 2/14 and 2/24 respectively. Pacer Naveen-ul-Haq did his part, with figures of 1/23 from three overs.

In Afghanistan’s reply, Hazratullah Zazai (37*) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (40) shared an 83-run stand for the first wicket before the latter departed, but still it was quite a comfortable chase for the Afghans with eight wickets and 59 balls remaining.

For Afghanistan, that was their second-biggest win as far as balls remaining are concerned. Sure, Afghanistan will ride high with full of confidence, but it will be interesting to see what kind of approach Bangladesh will take.

Bangladesh are coming off a difficult tour of Zimbabwe, where they lost both the T20I and ODI series by 2-1 margins. But, that was without the likes of Shakib-al-Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim. Both the players return to the national setup, and their presence in the dressing room and on the field will be a massive boost for Bangladesh.

Shakib would be hoping to provide balance to the misfiring Bangladesh batting, and would also be eyeing significant returns with the ball.

Pacer Mohammad Saifuddin too features in the Tigers’ squad, having last featured for Bangladesh in a T20I against Sri Lanka in 2021 last year, during the T20 World Cup.

Liton Das and Nurul Hasan did showcase some positive form with the bat in T20Is for Bangladesh, but they will be missing out on the continental tournament due to injuries. Sabbir Rahman and Mohammad Naim replace the two players respectively. Both Sabbir and Naim would be confident enough to take on Afghanistan, with both of them having played notable knocks in the recent unofficial ODI series between Bangladesh A and West Indies A in the Caribbean.

Both the batters shone in the second unofficial ODI, with Naim slamming a century (103), while Sabbir scored 62.

Afghanistan’s Fazalhaq Farooqi could be a threat to Bangladesh, and it would be fair to note that Farooqi in fact registered figures of 3/18 against Bangladesh in a T20I in Mirpur earlier this year. That was his previous best bowling figures in a T20I until he bettered that with 3/11 against Sri Lanka on Saturday. So far, Farooqi has scalped five wickets in two T20Is against Bangladesh.

History might signify in favour of Afghanistan, who hold a 5-3 lead as far as their head-to-head in T20Is is concerned, but with a Bangladesh lineup that consists of Shakib, Mushfiqur, and Saifuddin, one cannot write the Tigers off in this contest.

Also, there’s a milestone alert. Tuesday’s match will be Shakib-al-Hasan’s 100th T20I for Bangladesh. The 35-year-old will become the third Bangladesh cricketer to achieve the feat, after Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur.

Squads:

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Anamul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed, Sabbir Rahman, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain , Parvez Hossain Emon, Mohammad Naim

Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (captain), Najibullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Azmatullah Omarzai, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Karim Janat, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Najibullah Zadran, Naveen ul Haq, Noor Ahmad, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Rashid Khan, Samiullah Shinwari. Standby: Nijat Masood, Qais Ahmed, Sharafuddin Ashraf.

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