‘Underdog’ Bangladesh face Afghanistan in 1st T20 today
After the lone Test and three One-Day Internationals (ODIs), Bangladesh and Afghanistan will fight it out in cricket’s shortest format in the first of the two Twenty20s at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today (Friday).
The match will begin at 6:00pm and will be televised live by T Sports and Gazi TV.
Bangladesh pummeled Afghanistan in the one-off Test in June by 546 runs, the biggest win in Tests in terms of runs in the past 89 years.
Afghanistan recuperated from the devastating defeat and struck back in the ODI format, pulling off their first ever ODI series win over Bangladesh.
Afghanistan bagged the series by winning the first two ODIs. The hosts then bounced back with a win in the third ODI to save themselves from suffering a series clean-sweep in ODIs at home for the first time since 2014.
Bangladesh came out on top in Test, Afghanistan bounced back in the ODIs, now the two-match T20I series will decide which side 'wins' the entire tour.
However, unlike Tests and ODIs, in T20s Afghanistan are the on paper favourites against the Tigers.
The two teams have faced off in nine T20s, out of which Afghanistan have won six while Bangladesh have come out on top in the remaining three.
Bangladesh is yet to win a series against Afghanistan in the format, with their best result being a 1-1 draw at home in a two-match series in March last year.
Afghanistan, on the other hand, have inflicted a 3-0 clean sweep over the Tigers when the two sides faced off in India’s Dehradun in 2018.
Afghan captain Rashid Khan, who was rested in the third ODI, is refreshed and ready to lead his side in Sylhet.
The spin trio of Rashid, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi will be Bangladesh’s biggest concern in the match along with the skilled pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi.
But Bangladesh’s T20 skipper Shakib Al Hasan didn’t want to dwell too much on the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses as he believe the Tigers play their best cricket when they only focus on themselves.
“I feel that we play better as a team when we don’t think too much about the opposition. When we are relaxed, think about how we can individually do better, when we try to improve ourselves by 10-20 per cent, that is when we perform well. When we are nervous, think too much about the opponents, think too much about the conditions, that’s when we can’t give our 100 per cent,” Shakib said in a pre-match press conference on Thursday.
Opener Rony Talukdar, who didn’t get a game in the ODI series after getting drafted into the team for the last two ODIs following Tamim’s retirement drama, is likely to open the innings in the first T20 alongside Litton Das.
Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed could also get into the side as the lone specialist spinner. But Shakib and coach Chandika Hathurusingha also has the option of picking young leg-spinner Rishad Hossain.