Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said that they have idea about the strength and weakness of all Bangladeshi players, something which would help them plan better on how to make a winning start in their World Cup opener tomorrow (Saturday).
"We are playing against Bangladesh tomorrow. So, we have plan for each individual and we are planning against all of them as we learnt about the strength and weaknesses of every player through video clips. There is not any specific player to be targeted as we will play against eleven players and we will have to play well against all of the team," Shahidi said in Dharamshala Friday.
A couple of months back, they won a three-match ODI series against Bangladesh by 2-1 and that too in Bangladesh's own backyard but in Asia Cup, they suffered a crushing defeat to the Tigers. Afghanistan indeed couldn’t beat Bangladesh in any ICC tournament but this time they are upbeat about the chance.
"As you know that our players played a lot in IPL and also other players who didn't play IPL, also played in these conditions because India was our home. So, we know about the conditions and we will take that advantage with us throughout the tournament," Shahidi said.
"We played a lot against Bangladesh. Sometimes we won, sometimes they won. In Asia Cup, they beat us in the last game that we played with them - but we are totally ready here and we have had meetings, we prepare ourselves and we know them very well so we will play accordingly and we will try our best as a team to bounce back in this game against them."
He is also confident that his team will have a good outing in this World Cup, proving the critics wrong as they thought that the Afghans are only a bilateral series bully. The Afghans performance in the global event indeed forced the critics believe so. Hashmatullah Shahidi and co failed to win a single match in 2019 World Cup and even in the last Asia Cup, they didn't win any match.
Shahidi said their mindset is different now, compared to the past and so they can believe they would remove the tag of a bilateral series bully only. "I think our mindset is different now and as a team and as a leader I am very confident this time about this World Cup," Shahidi said in Dharamshala today.
"We will achieve a lot and that's what our aim and target is. We will try our best to play positive cricket and don't worry about what happened in the past. So, we will try to give our best here."
"And again, I will say as a leader, I am very confident because our team is better than before in other tournaments. It was good, but now this time it's better. I feel that. We will try our best to give positive results and make it historic for our country's people."
Former India player Ajay Jadeja is appointed as new mentor of Afghanistan and Shahidi believes his appointment will work for them to do well in the cricket's showpiece event.
"He played a lot for India, he has the experience and also, he knows about the conditions in India. From the first day that he is with us we are consulting with him. He is a very positive person and is always talking positive to improve our team. We will get the advantage of that and we are trying to get the advantage of every talk that he gives to the team. And it will help us throughout the tournament."