2018 Asia Cup 2018 in UAE Sep 15-28,2018 - Bangladesh Looking to Find a Way to Nullify Afghanistan's Spin Threat Sunday Sep 23,2018

Squads

Afghanistan: Asghar Afghan (capt), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Ihsanullah Janat, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Aftab Alam, Samiullah Shenwari, Munir Ahmad, Sayed Shirzad, Sharafuddin Ashraf.

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Ariful Haque, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mehidy Hasan, Nazmul Islam, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Hider Rony, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes.

Coming off defeats in their first Super Four matches, Afghanistan and Bangladesh will play to keep their chances alive in the 2018 Asia Cup when they take on each other at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday (September 22).


While Bangladesh received a seven-wicket thumping at the hands of India, Afghanistan fought really hard but Pakistan somehow managed to claim a three-wicket victory.

Things haven't been smooth for Mashrafe Mortaza's men ever since their win against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener. Their batsmen have struggled to get going in the last two encounters, and it was largely because of Mushfiqur Rahim (144) and Mohammad Mithun (63) that Bangladesh managed to post a total of 261 against Sri Lanka. However, in their matches against Afghanistan and India, Bangladesh have only managed totals of 119 and 173 respectively, which has been the main reason for their downfall.

Bangladesh will also look up to their seasoned campaigners Shakib Al Hasan, Rahim and Mahmudullah to bat with more responsibility and score the major chunk of runs.

In all three games, Afghanistan have been lucky enough to bat first, and their batsmen have done extremely well to post totals close to 250. Afghanistan's top-three - Mohammad Shahzad, Ihsanullah Janat and Rahmat Shah - have made decent contributions, while hitters like Gulbadin Naib and Rashid Khan have given them a late surge. Their game plan has been simple - don't lose too many wickets at the start and then capitalise on it late in the innings.