SPORTS

Bangladesh opt to bat against Afghanistan in Asia Cup

SHARJAH: Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in their opening match of the Asia Cup Twenty20 tournament on Tuesday.

Shakib, a star all-rounder who is playing his 100th T20 international, returns to lead the team that has won just two of their last 15 T20 matches.

The 35-year-old said his team expects to play tough cricket against Afghanistan, who hammered Sri Lanka in the tournament opener.

“It will be difficult for Afghanistan, so that is what we will look to do,” Shakib said at the toss.

“We have three seamers and two spinners — so our bowling is pretty much covered. Afghanistan is a very good side in the T20 format, we have prepared well for their bowlers hopefully we can show what we can do.”

Afghanistan crushed Sri Lanka by eight wickets in Dubai last week and needs a win to enter the Super 4 stage from Group B.

“The way we played last game was brilliant, the morale of the team is high and we want to play the same way today,” skipper Mohammad Nabi said.

“Maybe it will be a bit low today, this pitch. We will look to keep them to a low total.”

Teams

Afghanistan: Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Karim Janat, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (capt), Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Bangladesh: Mohammad Naim, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Afif Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman

Umpires: Asif Yaqoob (PAK), Jayaraman Madanagopal (IND)

TV Umpire: Anil Chaudhary (IND)

Match Referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)

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