The three-match ODI series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan is set to begin on Wednesday in Chattogram. Ahead of the first match of the series, Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal on Tuesday said they are looking forward to playing a good brand of cricket.
It should have been a mandatory goal for the Bangladesh team in this series, and it was not required to be expressed by the captain. But while answering a question on whether the Tigers are aiming to whitewash the Afghans, Tamim came up with this reply.
This series is going to be Bangladesh’s first 50-over competition after a gap of eight months. The Tigers played their last 50-over international match back in July last year against Zimbabwe. Since then, the Tigers have been busy playing T20Is, reports UNB.
Bangladesh captain said the team is excited to be back to play ODIs after a long gap. “No doubt that everyone in the team is excited. We are set to play our favourite edition of international cricket. We will play a few more ODI series this year unlike the last year,” Tamim said at the pre-series press conference.
The last ODI series against Zimbabwe was Tamim’s last international assignment too. With the latest series against Afghanistan, Tamim is also making his return to international cricket.
“We were playing in different events, so coming back and playing ODIs won’t a be a tough walk for us,” Tamim said. “It’s great that the whole team prepared to take the field. We are waiting to perform as the Bangladesh team.”
While the Bangladesh team is aiming to play a good brand of cricket, Afghans are prepared well with their spinners who have enjoyed enormous success in Bangladesh previously.
“We have won our last game in Bangladesh, and ahead of another series, we are taking inspiration from that win,” Hashmatullah Shahidi, the Afghan ODI captain told in the pre-series press conference. “We have a set of good spinners who can deliver well in Bangladesh. We know that the wickets of Bangladesh are always friendly to the spinners.”
A few Afghanistan players have taken part in the recently-concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). Shahidi believes that the experience of playing BPL will help them a lot to do well against the hosts.
Before flying to Chattogram for the ODI series, Afghanistan had a six-day preparation camp in Sylhet.
After the ODI series, both the teams will lock horns in a two-match T20 series in Dhaka on March 3 and 5.
Ahead of this series, Bangladesh and Afghanistan took each other on in eight matches and Bangladesh won five of them. With three wins, Afghanistan also played some good cricket.