Sports Reporter :
Bangladesh National Cricket team will face Afghanistan National Cricket team today in the first One Day International (ODI) cricket match at Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The game will start at 4:00pm (Bangladesh Standard Time). Captain of Bangladesh Cricket team Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead the Tigers, while Captain of Afghanistan Cricket team Hashmatullah Shahidi will lead his team. Sharjah Cricket Stadium will host its 300th international game between the first ODI match of Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Private satellite channel Nagorik Television and private satellite sports channel T Sports will telecast the match live.
Before today’s clash, Bangladesh played against Afghanistan in 16 ODI matches. Bangladesh posted 10 victories, while Afghanistan won in six occasions.
Afghanistan won their last ODI series (2-1) in the UAE against South Africa. They registered massive victories against South Africa in the series. They won the first game by 6 wickets with 144 balls remaining followed by a 177-run win in the second. Unfortunately, they lost the third game by 7 wickets. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the man of the series for his 194 runs in three games. This was Afghanistan’s only loss in the five games they played this year in the UAE.
Bangladesh played just three ODIs this year. They won the series (2-1) against Sri Lanka in March. With the series poised 1-1, the Bangladeshi bowlers restricted Sri Lanka to 235 after Taskin Ahmed claimed three wickets for 42 in 10 overs. Opener Tanzid Hasan scored 84 off 81 during the chase to help Bangladesh win the game by four wickets and 58 balls in hand. Shanto was adjudged the Player of the Series for his 163 runs in three games.
Last year, both teams played in the ICC ODI World Cup match against each other at Dharamshala in India. After inviting Afghanistan to bat, Bangladesh bowled them out for 156 runs. Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz picked three wickets each. Miraz then scored a half-century (57) with Najmul Hossain Shanto (59*) to win the game by 6 wickets in the 40th over of the game.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has dropped Anamul Haque, Taijul Islam for the ODI series, while Shakib Al Hasan is yet not ready to play for his national team. On the other hand, Afghanistan are set to miss injured Ibrahim Zadran and Mujeeb ur Rahman. Sediqullah Atal and Noor Ahmed will be replacing the injured duo.
Nasum Ahmed and Nahid Rana could not left the city on Monday last due to complications of visa . If they could reach on Tuesday, it is uncertain that they can play the first ODI after come out from the tiredness of travel from Dhaka to Dubai.
