Asia Cup 2018: Afghanistan vs Bangladesh, Preview and Predicted Playing XI

Bangladesh will look to avenge their defeat from last time when they go up against Afghanistan in the fourth fixture of the Super Four stage at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, September 23. Both the teams are coming on the back of defeats against India and Pakistan respectively.

Both teams have faced each other in six completed ODIs with the scoreline tied at 3-3, while in their most recent clash on September 20, Afghanistan inflicted a heavy defeat on Bangladesh. After electing to bat first, the Afghans posted a decent total of 255/7 and then wrapped up the Tigers' innings at 119 in the 43rd over to win the match by 136 runs.

Now both teams find themselves in a do-or-die situation, as a loss here will end their Asia Cup hopes. So one may expect both teams to come out blazing in order to keep their hopes alive.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan Cricket Team

Afghanistan will certainly take a lot of confidence from their emphatic win in their earlier encounter against Bangladesh.

Batting : Hasmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah have been in terrific form since the beginning of Asia Cup. Both are among tournament top ten run-getters with 192 and 118 runs respectively, and the team will be hoping for another strong opening stand from them.

The team will also bank on the likes of skipper Asghar Afghan and Gulbadin Naib who have been amongst the runs, and one can expect these players to score the bulk of runs once again.

Bowling : Their spinners Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi are exhibiting excellent form at the moment, and oppositions have found it very difficult to score runs off them in these spin-friendly conditions.

Expected Playing XI : Asghar Afghan (C), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Aftab Alam, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Shahzad, Ihsanullah Janat and Rahmat Shah.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh Cricket Team

Without Tamim, the Tigers failed to pose any threat to the opposition and suffered back to back defeats against Afghanistan and India. They were outplayed in all three facets of the game and were not able to push the opposition at all.

Batting : The Bangladesh batsmen failed miserably in previous two fixtures and now the onus will be on their veterans Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah to lay generous contributions with the bat and get team to a respectable total.

Mushfiqur Rahim (144) and Mithun (63) played a key role in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka.

Bowling : Mashrafe Mortaza and Mustafizur Rahman are the main threats in Bangladesh's pace attack. These two have been among the most successful bowlers in ODIs for their nation and it will be up to them to provide the early breakthroughs and set platforms for others to follow.

Shakib Al Hasan and debutant Abu Hider were the key figures for the Tigers in reverse fixture against the Afghans. Shakib was the pick of the lot with 4/42, while Hider also impressed everyone with his variations and ended up with figures of 2/50 in his maiden outing, and the skipper will need these two to repeat their performance.

Expected Playing XI : Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Abu Hider Rony, Mustafizur Rahman, Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto or Mominul Haque, Mohammad Mithun, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain and Mehidy Hasan.