After nearly three decades, the Bangladesh team is back in Sharjah to play ODIs—a three-match series against Afghanistan starting on Wednesday, reports UNB.
Bangladesh's main aim in this series is to restore some pride after losing miserably in two consecutive series.
In recent months, Bangladesh won a two-match Test series against Pakistan in the South Asian country. After that, they suffered five consecutive defeats in a two-match Test and three-match T20I series against India.
Following those defeats, Bangladesh took on South Africa at home, aiming to bounce back, but it failed. They lost both the Test matches in Dhaka and Chattogram.
Now they are back in Sharjah. They played five matches at the venue, with the last one in 1995, but failed to win any of those matches.
Afghanistan, who often host their opponents in the UAE, has also played 28 ODIs in Sharjah and won 18. In the last five years, they played five matches in this venue and won four.
Over the past decade, Afghanistan has become a strong opponent of Bangladesh. Not just Bangladesh, they challenged all other teams in ODIs.
The new Afghan players like Fazalhaq Farooqi and Rahmanullah Gurbaz became real game-changers for them. Both play in the Indian Premier League, contributing enormously to their development as global stars.
Bangladesh played a total of 16 ODIs against Afghanistan and won 10 of those matches. In the last six meetings, Bangladesh won three, and Afghanistan won the other three.
Najmul Hossain Shanto will continue leading Bangladesh in this series. It was reported that Najmul wanted to quit captaincy, as he informed the board just before the home series against South Africa, but he decided to continue for now.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz, the right-handed allrounder, will be Najmul’s deputy in this series. Mehidy is expected to take over the captaincy if Najmul eventually pulls himself out of the leadership role.
Bangladesh’s success in this series largely depends on young cricketers like Tawhid Hridoy, Tanzim Hasan Tamim, and Shoriful Islam, along with experienced players like Najmul, Mehidy, Taskin Ahmed, and Mustafizur Rahman.
While Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad are included in the squad, their recent performances suggest they are at a stage of their careers where consistent contributions are no longer guaranteed.
Bangladesh also included young bowlers Rishad Hossain and Nahid Rana. While Rishad proved his mettle in T20Is, he has yet to flourish in ODIs. Nahid made this Test debut and proved that he has potential. But he has yet to get his ODI cap.
Soumya Sarkar also made a comeback in this series. Litton Das, the wicketkeeper batter, has been suffering from a fever, which has paved the way for Soumya. The left-hander is expected to partner with Tamim to open the innings.
The second, third, and final ODIs of this series will take place on November 9 and 11 at the same venue.
Bangladesh squad for Afghanistan series: Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Zakir Hasan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Tawhid Hridoy, Jaker Ali Anik, Mehidy Hassan Miraz (vc), Rishad Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, and Nahid Rana.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Abdul Malik, Darwish Rasooli, Ikram Ali Khil, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Riaz Hassan, Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah (vc), Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Mohammad Nabi, Nangeyalia Kharote, Rashid Khan, Bilal Sami, Fareed Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, AM Ghazanfar, Naveed Zadran, and Noor Ahmad.
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