Afghanistan has caught the imagination of the cricket world with their meteoric rise amid war back home. Afghanistan began this incredible journey in 2008 entering the World Cricket League Division 5 and since then they have not looked back. They gained the associate status in 2013 and now Afghanistan is ranked as the top Associate nation with a current ICC world ranking of 11. Afghanistan has the talent, ability and, most of all, the self-belief and it is only fair that they are at the 50-overs world cup this time. In fact they narrowly missed the 2011 boat finishing fifth in the world cup qualifier. It is no surprise that Cricket is now the fastest growing sport in Afghanistan.
On the other hand Bangladesh is not a rookie. They played in their first World Cup in 1999. They are the Full Members. They have been playing Test cricket since 2000 and ODI cricket since 1986. It is but natural that the expectation would be that Bangladesh wins tomorrow's encounter against its Asian counterpart.
But the only time Bangladesh have gone up against Afghanistan in the ODI format, they have lost and that too at home, in March last year. It is worth mentioning that Bangladesh did not have the services of Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan and their current skipper Mashrafe Mortaza but of course that cannot serve as an excuse.
If we compare the recent form of the two teams, except for the warm-up games Bangladesh have not played an international game for two-and-a-half months now whereas Afghanistan on the other hand have been regularly playing in the past 6 months and as recently as last month.
In the warm-up games, Bangladesh did not have a happy outing losing to Ireland and Pakistan. Afghanistan on the other hand won against UAE and lost to India where they did play the complete quota of 50 overs.
Ireland's win against Bangladesh in warm-up and yesterday against West Indies will definitely serve as a motivating factor for Afghanistan. Apart from this Afghanistan can also draw some confidence from the fact that when they played against Zimbabwe in a 4 match series, they drew it 2-2.
Coming to the composition, the X-factor for Afghanistan would be its pace attack. The trio of Dawlat Zadran, Hamid Hassan and Shapoor Zadran are tall and quick. The bouncier conditions in Australia will definitely suit them but the big question will be do they have the experience to turn these conditions in their favour? Among the trio, Hamid Hassan, their premier fast bowler has the skill and ability to get the ball to reverse. In Samiullah Shenwari and skipper Mohammad Nabi, they have good all rounders who are equally good with bat and ball. Their spin bowling can suffocate the opponents. The batting with the likes of Javed Ahmadi, Asghar Stanikzai and Najibullah Zadran, though is good when facing the attacks of the associates, but it will be a different ball game when facing the full members. They will be missing their star batsman Mohammed Shehzad. Moreover what may go wrong for them would their inexperience in constructing innings over a period of 50 overs and to sustain the intensity throughout the match, be it batting or bowling.
They have a new coach, Andy Moles, who has been working with Afghanistan for less than a year. Whether Andy has had the time needed to make a difference or not will be clear from the way Afghanistan would perform in the tournament.
When Bangladesh start tomorrow, they would know that they cannot afford a slip-up against Afghanistan as that would severely dent their chances of making it to the knock-outs. If they were to reach the quarter finals they will have to beat the liek of Australia, England, Sri Lanka and New Zealand causing an upset. They cannot afford to be on the other side of the upset.
The X-factor in the Bangladesh squad is Shakib Al Hasan. He fits in the all important all-rounder slot very well and recently he has become the first cricketer to be ranked No. 1 all-rounder in all three formats of the game. Shakib is a regular in the various leagues across the globe, whether it is Indian Premiere League or Big Bash League or Caribbean Premiere League. His form will be crucial for the team's success. Openers Anamul Haque and Tamim Iqbal are equally explosive but Tamim Iqbal who made 81 against Pakistan in the warm-up game is returning back from knee surgery. Mushfaquir and Nasir Hossain provide stability in the middle order. Pace attack would be steered by skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, Rubel Hossain and Al-Amin Hossain. Rubel Hossain and Al-Amin Hossain are quick and have the ability to hit the surface hard and generated bounce. Spin department will be led by Shakib.
Ireland's win against West Indies has definitely lifted the standard for Associates in this World Cup and Afghanistan is such a team that they will try all in its power to maintain that standard. Definitely the pressure is on Bangladesh tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment