*BANGLADESH VS AFGHANISTAN SECOND ODI PREVIEW- 3 MATCH ODI SERIES 2023*
*THE BUILD UP:*
Imagine being a home side where you have dominated all this while and you start your series with a defeat to Afghanistan who are way back in the ODI team rankings. How would you feel as a unit? Even though the first game was affected by rain and the result was calculated based on the Duck worth Lewis system, Bangladesh batted with little convinction in their plans and the scorecard where they got to only 169 for the loss of 9 big wickets sums it up pretty nicely.
It was an abysmal show with the bowl where little was concluded from the side of Bangladesh. However, the Afghanis whose bowling attack was led by Rashid came up with the goods and mixed it really well. While the spinners accounted for 5 wickets, the pacers with Farooqi leading the pack, were instrumental with 4. The visitors would be keen on replicating this special sort of a bowling performance which would also give them a big boost in the second game and possibly turn out to be game defining.
*BAN PROBABLE XI:*
Rony Taulkdar, Litton Das (C), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim (WK), Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, and Mustafizur Rahman
Tamim Iqbal, who recently announced his retirement with immediate effect after the first ODI would be a big miss. He was coming after a while and scored a 13 in his conclusion game but throughout his career, the veteran who has over 15000 international runs was a Bangladeshi legend with multiple followers and fans. The skipper duties would directly be handed over to who was the deputy during his reign, Litton Das. It would be exciting to see the brand of cricket which the Bangladesh team plays with, after the appointment of Das as the leader of the pack. The 28 year old is knock for his outstanding and Aggresive stroke play and we could see some of that on offer once he steps on the field tomorrow. It would be interesting to find out that as to what expect the Tigers get inspired by this and use it in their batting wholeheartedly.
Shakib, Bangladesh’s premier allrounder was a disappointing bet with the bat, striking at under 40 and not getting any opportunity to unleash his power hitting. However, he could make it up with the bowl: the spinner bowled an economical spell of 5 overs, leaking just a mere 9 runs and even picking up a wicket. The legend would be raring to get back to his groove with the bat because once he gets going, he is a real danger specially in this format on his home turf.
The form of Towhid Hridoy, who came out to bat at number 5 last game would be key, heading into this fixture. Even if he leave his fifty aside that came vs Afgh in a losing cause, he has made a rocking start to his ODI career: averaging an exact 50 in the 7 games that he has played in, so far.
*AFGH PROBABLE XI:*
Rahmanullah Gurbaz(wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Sayed Shirzad/Zia-ur-Rehman.
Afghanistan have a bowling lineup to boast about. Now, they have delivered the goods as well in the first ODI and would be looking to choke Bangladesh again with a similar performance. The leader of the pack, Rashid Khan, had an outing to remember with 2/21(9.0) but what was astonishing were the returns of Farooqi, who cracked the code to success and outshined all others in a bid to become the best bowler of that game. The Ban batting lineup were not able to handle them last game alongside Mujeeb Ur Rehman and we could see something similar if they remain in the same shape.
Excited to watch the duo of Zadran and Gurbaz upfront. The openers scored 41 and 22 respectively, last game and surely have a lot more to offer come tomorrow. Since it’s a venue that favours spin bowling type and both these players handle this category of bowling really well, we could be in for some exciting cricket where the partnership between Shakib and Mehdy would look to send these two back cheaply and open the gates for a collapse.
*MY PREDICTIONS:*
*FOR BAN:*
Highest run getter- Litton Das/Shakib Al Hasan
Highest wicket taker- Shakib Al Hasan/Mustafizur Rehman
*FOR AFGH:*
Highest run getter- Rahmatullah Gurbaz
Highest wicket taker- Mujeeb Ur Rehman/Rashid Khan
*FOR THE GAME:*
BAN to bounce back and level the series