Afghanistan tour of Bangladesh 2022 News

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hasan said on Monday, 28 February that star all rounder Shakib Al Hasan will be available for selection in the South Africa Test series. Hasan revealed that Sahakib was asked to play for the national team after he wasn’t picked in the Indian Premier League and the all rounder agreed. Hasan’s statement comes right after BCB’s announcement that they want to have a conversation with Shakib and know what his individual plans are for the remainder of the year. The star all rounder earlier wanted to take a break from international cricket to prepare for the Indian Premier League and now that has gone flying out of the window, Shakib has considered coming back to the longest format of the game. Late last year, Shakib had said that he wanted to take a break from Test cricket to focus on the other formats, but then later clarified that his statements were miscommunicated. He clarified his position that he wanted to focus on IPL and get his personal preparation done before the cash rich league. Shakib has been a pivotal player for Bangladesh for many many years, but in recent times has come under fire from the statement-heavy BCB president. Many times, Hasan has indirectly fired shots at Shakib and Mustafizur Rahman for prioritising IPL over national duties. Bangladesh are currently playing Afghanistan in the ODI series - one that they have won by the margin of 2-1, they will now move on to the more important two-match T20I series to test out their preparations ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

Afghanistan amended their course of action winning the third and final ODI against Bangladesh on Monday, 28 February. Beaten comprehensively in the first two ODIs, Afghanistan showed a lot of passion in the dead rubber to win crucial 10 points in the ICC Super League. Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal conceded the same point at the post match press presentation and stated that he was really disappointed to let go of the points in such an easy fashion. Afghanistan - finally were able to showcase their all-round strength first affecting a middle order collapse owing to maestro Rashid Khan and then chasing the paltry score of 192 runs. When Bangladesh walked into bat after winning the toss, it did not look like they could get all out for such a small total. Bangladesh were 100/1 at a point with Liton Das anchoring the innings alongside Shakib Al Hasan after the departure of Tamim Iqbal, who is yet to find his footing in the series. However, in the 22nd over, Shakib chopped a delivery into his stump affecting a collapse. Rashid Khan in his classic middle over antics took over the game and bowled an exceptional 10 overs where he took three wickets for just 37 runs. Wickets kept tumbling as in form batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan were sent packing and Bangladesh were reeling at 175/7 by the 42nd over. The collapse eventually reached a stage where the Bangladesh were wrapped up in the 47th over, losing their last 9 wickets for less than 100 runs. Coming into the chase, Afghanistan knew that they just needed to keep their heads calm and see through the tough phases against a bowling attack that has been very good throughout the series. To be fair to Bangladesh bowlers, they did produce chances, only to see them getting dropped in the outfield. Opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a century and laid the stone for the victory while Riaz Hassan and Rahmat Shah played their part in supporting him. Afghanistan lost three wickets and patiently chased the score down with 10 overs remaining. The win might not mean a lot in the context of the ODI series, but Afghanistan certainly would believe that they have cracked the code for this Bangladesh side going into the T20I format. Afghanistan are a force to reckon with in the shortest international format of the game and the conditions might just suit them better in the two-match T20I series.

Afghanistan’s fate in the ODI series was sealed after they lost a do-or-die game against Bangladesh on Friday, 25 February. An 88-run victory for the Bangla Tigers means that they now have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series and have completely stamped their authority against Afghanistan. While the bowling department carried its stupendous form from the last game, today, it was the exceptional batting performance that stood out - something that is not said on a daily basis in reference to the Bangladesh side. Liton Das’ century along with Mushfiqur Rahim’s 86 off 93 balls paved the way for a huge score that more or less sealed the deal for the home side in the first innings itself. Liton’s 136 off 126 balls had 16 boundaries and 2 sixes to his name, as the player looked to get back in form after his horrendous run at the World T20 tournament last year. His 202-run stand alongside Rahim took Bangladesh to a massive total of 306 runs for the loss of four wickets. Returning to defend the match, Bangladesh scalped three wickets in the first 10 overs of the game sending Riaz Hassan, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai back in the hut. The home team and their mastery over the conditions made life very difficult for the Afghan batters as they kept collapsing in desperation to score runs. Credit must be given to Rahmat Shah who did well to fend off the initial blast but ended up succumbing to Taskin Ahmed against his return spell in the 25th over. Ahmed’s nip-backer went through Shah’s defence to clip the off stump bail and effect another collapse of the batting line-up. The visitors once again lost three wickets in a bunch to effectively wipe out their middle order and put themselves in an awful position by the end of 32 overs. Panic set in thereafter and looking for runs and a rapid rate, Afghanistan subsequently lost Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan in a space of three overs. While Nabi (32 off 38) skied a loopy Mehidy Hasan delivery trying to look for a big shot, Rashid was clean bowled by a classic Mustafizur Rahman off cutter. With more than 100 runs required and two wickets remaining it was just a matter of time before this got wrapped up and it did in the first ball of the 46th over as Afif Hossain dismissed Fazalhaq Farroqui in his first ball of the match. Liton Das was judged the man of the match for obvious reasons and Tamim Iqbal heaped praises on his batters. He acknowledged his bowlers for being fantastic through the two ODIs but stated that Bangladesh need to finish strong after getting such a brilliant partnership in the middle. The series is now a dead rubber and Bangladesh would like to experiment for the last game on 28 February, before moving on to the T20I format - their worst in the recent times ahead of the T20 World Cup in Australia.

Afif Hossain scored his maiden half century and went up to remain undefeated at 93 to grant Bangladesh an unlikely victory on Wednesday, 23 February at Chattogram, Bangladesh. The talented left-hander alongside Mehidy Hasan Miraz put together an incredible 174* run stand for the 7th wicket to win the nail-biting game from a precarious position. Needing a paltry 216 runs to win in the second innings, Bangladesh were looking to make easy work out of the situation, but were slapped back into reality after young Fazalhaq Farooqui rattled the top order. The young Afghan took four wickets in the first five overs, cleaning up the entire Bangladesh top order for just 18 runs, stamping his authority on the game. Farooqui’s pace off the pitch and little hints of movement here and there troubled the entire order and established players like Tamim Iqbal found him hard to negotiate. After Farooqui was done feasting on the top order, spin twins Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan weaved their magic and got two huge wickets of Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan in quick succession. Just when things looked in the bag for the visitors, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi made a big mess of things by keeping relaxed fields and bowling his fifth bowling option in the game. Credit should not be taken away from Afif and Mehidy though, who stuck by the tough phase of play negotiation Rashid Khan and brought Bangladesh back in the game by stabilising the innings. Once they had seen Rashid through, both batsmen proceeded carefully to put away bad balls and keep the scoreboard ticking with singles. The game plan was to have smaller goals in the middle and take the match over by over since the scoreboard pressure was not there. At the end, this led to both batsmen playing 225 balls between them for the highest 7th wicket stand in Bangladesh’s ODI history and giving them a victory by the margin of 7 balls. Earlier in the day, Bangladesh pacers brought in their full arsenal of pace on and pace off deliveries to skittle Afghanistan for a paltry 215 runs. Mustafizur Rahman was the star of the show and picked three wickets. Shakib Al Hasan and Taskin Ahmed did fairly great as well and picked up two wickets to their names. However, it was Mehidy Hasan that actually choked the opposition with his tight lines and finished his 10 overs with three maidens and 28 runs, although without getting a wicket. For Afghanistan, barring Najibullah Zadran, no player capitalised on the starts and that meant that they were at least short by 30-40 runs in the wicket. Hasan was adjudged the man of the match for his exceptional control over the game and in the post match interview heaped praises on Afif for his ability to play in tough conditions. Hasan said that when he found it difficult to get going, Afif’s stroke play eased the pressure in the game. Bangladesh will be hoping to bounce off this incredible victory and seal the three-match series in the very next game. Captain Tamim Iqbal looked very pleased with the duo's efforts in the middle and explained that at a point he did not believe that Bangladesh could actually win the game. He hoped that Bangladesh can translate this into more amazing performances running up to the World Cup year.

The Asian powerhouses Bangladesh and Afghanistan are meeting for a white-ball series, starting February 23. The five-match series is going to constitute three ODIs and two T20I matches as the teams test out their strengths and weaknesses in the run up to the two World Cups lined up in 2022 and 2023. Bangladesh have been considered as home track bullies in the recent past, beating most teams at their home soil that offers slow turning tracks. On the other hand, it is possible that the turning tracks might turn out to be in favour of the Afghan spinners that houses the likes of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan in their ranks. Where to watch? Fancode has exclusive rights to stream all the five matches in India. The ODIs are going to begin at 10:30 AM IST, while the T20Is will start from 2:30 PM. The matches will be telecasted by Rabbitholebd Sports in Bangladesh. What’s at stake? Bangladesh will see the return of their talismanic opener Tamim Iqbal, who has been in and out of the team due to injury concerns. On the other hand, this would be a good chance for Afghanistan to stamp their authority over the ODI Super League in the slow turning tracks which could be in their favour.

Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan has confirmed that Australian Jamie Siddons will be taking over as the batting coach of the men’s national team. The announcement comes a day after Ashwell Prince tendered his resignation citing personal reasons - a role that he had been in for about a year. Siddons has previously worked with the Bangladesh side during his long stint between 2007 to 2011. Bangladesh took long strides in his mentorship at that time and Siddons’ appointment comes at yet another crucial juncture where the national team’s batting has been termed ‘outdated’. Bangladesh faltered horribly in the 2021 T20 World Cup despite winning their home series in the run up to the premier competition. The top order was criticised for not being able to keep up with the modern demands of T20 batting. Bangladesh are also looking for a fast bowling coach after Ottis Gibson vacated the position and went to Yorkshire as a part of their cultural revamp. The Tigers take on Afghanistan on a 5-match white ball series before playing the long format against South Africa.