The 3rd encounter of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 will be between Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The two Asian sides will clash at Dharamsala on 7th October 2023. This will be the first game of the day, as later in the day Sri Lanka will face South Africa in Delhi.
Following is the preview of Bangladesh vs Afghanistan today match of World Cup 2023.
Afghanistan vs Bangladesh Today Match Preview
Bangladesh have been on a good winning track recently. They defeated India in the final game of super 4 stage of Asia Cup 2023. They did lose the ODI Series against New Zealand at home, but they did not play their big guns in that series. Then, in the warmup game of World Cup 2023, they defeated Sri Lanka while lost to England in the 2nd warmup, but showed good fight. Speaking about fights, it would be interesting to see how Bangladesh function as a unit. Recently, Shakib-Tamim words of war was going on prior to the world cup, and although Tamim is not in the World Cup squad, that war of words must have had a certain impact on the team.
Afghanistan on the other hand have had a disappointing run in the Asia Cup 2023. They have played lesser ODI cricket in the last few years. They are also on a losing streak of 6 ODI matches and their last ODI win was in July 2023.
The Track at Dharamsala is supportive for the pacers, at least that’s what the numbers suggest. Bangladesh have a good looking pace attack while Afghanistan’s pace attack is not always their strength, but it can be competitive.
Bangladesh will be the favorites to win this encounter.
Afghanistan expected Playing XI
Afghanistan will have their likely trio of spinners, Mujeeb-Nabi-Rashid while their pacers will be Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq and Azamatullah Omarzai.
Probable Lineup: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan 9 Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Bangladesh expected Playing XI
Bangladesh will go in with Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam as their lead pacers while they will have to make a call between Mustafizur Rahman and Hasan Mahmud. Hasan Mahmud averages 28 with the ball in ODI cricket in 2023 with 17 wickets, while Mustafizur Rahman has 15 wickets averaging 27. It would be interesting to see who plays between them.
Probable Lineup: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan (C), Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mahedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud/Mustafizur Rahman.
Afghanistan vs Bangladesh Head to Head Record
Both sides have clashed twice in World Cup history with Bangladesh winning both times. Overall in ODI cricket, both sides have faced each other 15 times, with Bangladesh winning 9 and Afghanistan winning 6.
Players to watch-out for
For Afghanistan, their spinners and openers remain their key to success. Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran have scored 350+ runs in their last 10 ODI games. Afghanistan’s success is heavily reliant on these 2 individuals. Moreover, with the spin, Mujeeb Zadran holds the key. He has been much better than Nabi and Rashid in ODI cricket. In his last 10 ODIs, he has 13 wickets while managing to keep his economy rate under 5.
Bangladesh’s strength lies with their pacers, and Shakib-al-Hasan. Shakib-al-Hasan’s world cup is impressive. He is the list of top 10 all-time highest run getters of World Cup, top 10 half century scorers in world cup and also he is in the list of top 10 highest wicket-takers in world cup. He surely knows how to do well in big events and he is a man of big occasions.
As far as the pacers are concerned, Taskin Ahmed has 11 wickets in his last 5 ODI matches while Shoriful Islam has 13 in his last 6 ODI matches. With the track supporting the pacers a little, Afghanistan have to be extremely careful dodging them.
