Afghans all set to face Bangladesh challenge

DEHRADUN:WHEN Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan bumps into Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun ahead of the first T20 match 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 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. Indian fans 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. Bangladesh won by nine wickets in that game. Bangladesh still look better and more experienced but Afghanistan 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. Rashid is definitely going to be a key for them, we will be prepared for that challenge,” said Shakib, leading Bangladesh here.