All eyes on Rashid Khan in AfghanBangla clash
Spinner shone in IPL and will look to do well ahead of Test vs India
DEHRADUN: When Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan bumps into Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here ahead of the first Twenty20 on Sunday evening, the duo won’t have much time to catch up.
Both were part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad team that lost to Chennai Super Kings in the final of IPL 11 last week. However in Dehradun, they are pitted against each other, this time due to national duty.
The stadium, located in the picturesque Doon Valley and nestled between the Ganges on the east and the Yamuna on the west, will witness its first ever international series as Afghanistan ‘host’ Bangladesh. For Indian fans, they would want to see how well prepared the Afghanistan team is considering they play their debut Test against India later this month.
As far as their T20 history goes, Bangladesh have played Afghanistan only once, in the 2014 World T20 and won by nine wickets. Bangladesh still look better and more experienced side but the Asghar Stanikzailed Afghanistan team has shown enough spunk. And even though they have played mostly against lowly-ranked teams of late in T20s, Afghanistan are actually ranked two notches higher than Bangladesh.
In fact, the last year has been a significant one for Afghanistan cricket. Not only did the conflictridden nation earn qualification for the 2019 World Cup, it also acquired Test status recently. “Congratulations to Afghanistan for getting the Test status. They have some world-class cricketers in their ranks. They truly deserve to get the Test status. We need to show good brand
› Rashid Khan did exceptionally well in IPL. His form and experience will lift other team mates against Bangladesh.
ASGHAR STANIKZAI, Afghanistan captain
› Playing for the country is totally different. It gives you a sense of pride. I hope to use all the IPL experience against Afghanistan.
SHAKIB AL HASAN, Bangladesh captain
of cricket. Rashid is definitely going to be a key for them, we will be prepared for that challenge,” said Bangladesh captain Shakib.
Much of the attention will be on Rashid, who picked 21 wickets in 17 IPL matches. And with mystery spinner Mujeeb ur-Rehman, who turned out for Kings XI Punjab, the Afghanistan spin attack holds all the aces with leftarm orthodox Amir Hamza Hotak and chinaman Zahir Khan adding up as well along with Mohammed Nabi.
Braving the heat and fasting during the holy month of Ramzan, both teams have been training hard. “The pitch here is new to both teams. We would like to play to our strength. Our spinners have shown to the world that they are outstanding. Although the Asians tackle spin well, we would still want to see how the Bangladesh batsmen fare against us,” said Asghar. Rashid and Tamim Iqbal joined their teams on Saturday evening as they were in England playing in a charity game. Bangladesh have called up Abul Hasan as seamer Mustafizur Rahman’s replacement.