Afghanistan has been torn by war for decades, yet Afghanistan’s cricket team has become an oasis of hope and financial reward beyond many young Afghans’ wildest imaginations.
But the team is also fighting for something greater – respect. This movement isn’t political in nature but simply seeks recognition.
In this article, we will discuss the main points or high lights of Afghanistan National Cricket Team vs Bangladesh National Cricket Team Stats.
Afghanistan Playing XI
| Player Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz | Wicketkeeper-Batter |
| Ibrahim Zadran | Batter |
| Rahmat Shah | Batter |
| Hashmatullah Shahidi (c) | Batter |
| Mohammad Nabi | All-rounder |
| Najibullah Zadran | Batter |
| Azmatullah Omarzai | All-rounder |
| Rashid Khan | Bowler |
| Mujeeb Ur Rahman | Bowler |
| Fazalhaq Farooqi | Bowler |
| Mohammad Saleem | Bowler |
Bangladesh Playing XI
| Player Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Tamim Iqbal (c) | Batter |
| Litton Das | Wicketkeeper-Batter |
| Najmul Hossain Shanto | Batter |
| Towhid Hridoy | Batter |
| Shakib Al Hasan | All-rounder |
| Mushfiqur Rahim | Wicketkeeper-Batter |
| Afif Hossain | All-rounder |
| Mehidy Hasan Miraz | All-rounder |
| Taskin Ahmed | Bowler |
| Mustafizur Rahman | Bowler |
| Hasan Mahmud | Bowler |
Afghanistan vs Bangladesh
Afghanistan Cricket Team represents their nation at international cricket. Boasting an abundance of talented players, their national cricket team has gained worldwide renown. Afghanistan has experienced remarkable progress during recent years; their rise from underdog status has been remarkable and now sees them compete successfully in limited-overs cricket tournaments like ODI matches as well as the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup tournament.
The Taliban government banned women’s sports and placed restrictions on certain men’s sports, but cricket remained permissible under their regime. Perhaps because cricket is so popular a game and their success can be used for domestic political gains; nonetheless, Afghanistan cricket still represents their country with their flag and anthem flying proudly on match days.
Bangladesh are determined to even the three-match series on Saturday despite their dismal performance in the opening match, so have brought in left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed and fast bowler Nahid Rana to bolster their bowling attack and improve performance.
Bangladesh have also been given a boost by Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s return from injury; although their initial batting collapse may have been alarming, this won’t alter their plans – still competing against New Zealand and West Indies in their group, they need to win both matches versus Afghanistan to have any hope of making it into the knockout stage – this includes all top batsmen like captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz upping their game to ensure they make it out unscathed.
1st ODI
There was much at stake in this match as all three teams vied for a semifinal spot. Drama, excitement and suspense filled this contest, as Bangladesh, after their disastrous batting performance in Game 1, desperately tried to avoid a repeat performance in this one. With Mushfiqur Rahim injured and Mehidy Hasan Miraz struggling, Bangladesh found themselves fighting hard just to keep in contention for another semifinal berth.
But still they managed to post an impressive total on an unforgiving pitch for batsmen, thanks to some great efforts by Bangladesh spinners and Jaker Ali’s lively debut innings.
Afghan spinners were far less effective. Farooqi often overpitched too often, giving Bangladesh batsmen ample opportunities to exploit his mistakes. Naveen and Rashid both claimed seven wickets between them in Bangladesh’s lower middle order batting order.
As the match progressed, Afghanistan would often lead with DLS and Bangladesh in terms of net run rate; Litton still looked strong but one or two rash shots saw him fall victim to Naveen, returning the match back into balance.
Eventually, however, the Tigers fell short of their target and lost by 13 runs to level the series at 1-1. All is at stake for Monday’s decider at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium; the winner will advance to semi-finals while their counterpart will go home.
2nd ODI
The second One Day International of the series was an action-packed high-scoring encounter that delivered everything imaginable: drama, entertainment, suspense and joyous celebration. All three teams were playing to secure a semifinal spot; Australia needed a win; Bangladesh required victory while Afghanistan simply desired one win to advance in the tournament.
New Zealand got off to an impressive start with their bat and amassed 344 runs in 50 overs thanks to Mark Chapman’s stellar century. Pakistan struggled against such an intimidating total and were bowled out for 271. Babar Azam led their run chase with 78 off 83 balls.
Bangladesh found the chase difficult as they lost wickets at regular intervals and struggled to attain sufficient strike rate as required run-rate kept increasing. Thanks to Litton reaching his second fifty of the match and keeping Bangladesh within its required run-rate target.
Bangladesh was an absolute disgrace when it came to death bowling; their last five overs saw them concede 68 runs at an astounding run rate of 13.6; an abhorrent display for any form of cricket.
India was able to capitalize on this weakness and scored 271 runs in 50 overs, led by Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul who scored freely during their middle overs. Unfortunately, however, their lower order let them down, failing to post runs quickly enough and maintaining an edge at the end of this tournament.
3rd ODI
After two hours of play due to wet outfield conditions, Pakistan’s fragile batting was exposed once more as New Zealand complete a 3-0 series sweep by winning the third one-day international by 43 runs. Rhys Mariu and Michael Bracewell each scored half-centuries but never managed to keep pace with Babar Azam’s asking rate; Ben Sears took five wickets regularly throughout and eventually bowled Pakistan out for 221.
Bangladesh got off to a strong start in their chase of 221 but were always trailing behind due to loose shot selection by their batsmen. Hashmatullah Shahidi fell for an early duck, setting an unfortunate pattern as everyone struggled on a difficult pitch against spin.
Spinners Mohammad Asif and Najibullah Zakir were particularly effective, taking seven wickets between them for Bangladesh, with Amir Hamzadin also contributing one wicket before they were all out for just 221.
Ireland took an outstanding 144-run partnership between Paul Stirling (89) and Curtis Campher (63) to ease them home, drawing level in their three-match series at 1-1. On Tuesday at the same venue, the decider will begin at 12:30 PM IST with toss taking place at 12:30 PM IST; you can watch live action here, or tune into ICC Live stream for all ODIs and T20Is; those with subscription can watch from their computers, laptops, mobile phones or follow along Twitter, Facebook or Instagram during gameplay!
4th ODI
No team should experience an unexpected series loss abroad; especially one as high-ranked as India was. Their performance in South Africa and New Zealand, with its challenging conditions such as seaming and bouncy conditions, was particularly harrowing and they lost 3-1 against Proteas batting collapse often, failing to gain momentum of its own and failing to score over half-centurys each in total.
Bangladesh made valiant attempts to recover after an initial collapse but ultimately succumbed. Their innings never looked strong as spinners controlled play with precision. Ajinkya Rahane scored his maiden ODI century while Shikhar Dhawan posted an unbeaten 97 and helped India post 271 runs in 38 overs.
Both teams were locked in an exciting chase for a semifinal spot; Bangladesh needed to claim quick victories to reach their target, while Australia required wins against Bangladesh to secure their position.
At times, Bangladesh appeared confident of success; however, rash shots by Litton swing the pendulum back toward Afghanistan. When Farooqi and Naveen began picking off wickets consistently and Bangladesh began falling short of its target, Jaker Ali played an invaluable role as their opening batsman by striking three times to give his side hope in the last overs. They only needed 12 runs from two overs to secure victory; unfortunately though some errors in execution from Bangladesh allowed Afghanistan to win their inaugural ODI match victory.