¤¤ Afghanistan looks to stun Bangladesh again ¤¤ * Following a stunning victory over Bangladesh in the Asia Cup, not-anymore-underdogs Afghanistan is now looking to stun the host in ICC World Twenty20 Championship opener here today (Sunday) at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. When you are hosting a world tournament and you want to be in the tournament and youre afraid of getting out of it, that is the sort of pressure that is on you, said Kabir Khan, the Afghanistan coach, as he set out the mind-games stall. I personally think they are facing more pressure than us. Bangladesh is on a ten-match losing streak in the competition since the inaugural edition in 2007, and even though it has lost four of its last five Twenty20 Internationals. Meanwhile, Afghanistan has its tails up and its morale high following the 32-run triumph in the Asia Cup. However, Bangladesh is the superior team, when man to man in the squad is compared, and is welcoming back three stalwarts who were missing from that Asia Cup disaster Shakib Al Hasan, the former captain who was serving a suspension, and Tamim Iqbal and Sohag Gazi, who were both nursing injuries. Nepal and Hong Kong form the other two teams in Group A, and they arent expected to pose a serious threat to Bangladesh or Afghanistan, so this effectively translates into a knockout fixture of sorts even at this early stage of the tournament. In many ways, Twenty20 cricket is less forgiving than the 50-over format, 120 balls per innings substantially bridging the gulf between the sides. Zimbabwe had beaten Australia convincingly in the first World T20, so an Afghanistan win over Bangladesh isnt in the realms of the impossible, though despite its recent travails that have left Mushfiqur Rahim, the captain, hanging somewhere between exasperated and irate, its Bangladesh who still begin the strong favourite in its own patch. Afghanistans big problem has been its batting, which has at best been patchy. It needs Mohammad Nabi, their powerful leader, and Samiullah Shenwari to score and score rapidly, while Mohammad Shahzad, both the wicketkeeper and the one with the helicopter shot would do well to shed his diffidence of the recent past. Its bowling is almost as good as any attack going, but unless it addresses its batting woes, Afghanistan will continue to pull off the odd surprise while possessing the potential to do so much more damage. All of Bangladesh will be hoping, indeed praying, that Sunday isnt the day when Afghan batting attains full bloom. To lose once in their backyard, in the Asia Cup, was bad enough; another defeat, with a spot in the Super 10 of the World T20 at stake, will be calamitous for a country that has rolled out the neon lights and the red carpet for this biennial slugfest
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 18:34:29 +0000
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