Match Thread-1st ODI=> Bangladesh v Afghanistan|September 25th 2016|Mirpur| 14:30 local time (08:30 GMT | 04:30 EDT | 03:30 CDT | 01:30 PDT)

[aklemalp]

Cricket returns after 6+ months. Bangladesh will face an ever-improving Afghanistan team in the 1st of 3 ODIs.

VERSUS

BANGLADESH SQUAD:
Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Imrul Kayes, Mahmudullah, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shafiul Islam, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Taijul Islam, Tamim Iqbal

AFGHANISTAN SQUAD:
Asghar Stanikzai (c), Amir Hamza, Dawlat Zadran, Fareed Ahmad,Hashmatullah Shahidi, Ihsanullah, Karim Janat, Mirwais Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Najibullah Zadran, Naveen-ul-Haq, Nawroz Mangal, Rahmat Shah, Rashid Khan,Samiullah Shenwari, Shabir Noori

Watch out for: Mohammed Shahzad and Rashid Khan
Bangladesh's record in ODIs(Played-won-loss-tied-NR): 312-98-210-0-4
Afghanistan's record in ODIs: 67-34-32-0-1

Weather:50% chance of rain

Here's to a winning start to the series for Bangladesh....They should stamp their authority early on...and don't allow the Afghans to take any bit of initiative....

Go Bangladesh...Go Tigerssssss

[ReZ_1]

Finally a match thread after such a long time.... @Excited

[Night_wolf]

raining very hard in mirpur now, eventhough the match isnt today it looks grim

[al Furqaan]

There are reserve days...is it possible to play 50 overs one day and the other 50 overs the next day? I think our ICC win vs Kenya was like that (shortened to 25 overs on the 2nd day though)...

At any rate, the Afghan batting is too weak...we should aim to win every match by 75+ runs or 6+ wickets.

[kalpurush]

Nice thread aklemalp. Much thanks for opening the thread mate. All the best to our beloved Tigers

[RealSports]

1st match is the most important. Players will be rusty for sure. We should win, but there will be scares. I don't know why, but I have a feeling Afghanistan will win one game. Our batting is not as good as England's, Australia's, New Zealand's, South Africa's and India's.

[simon]

Originally Posted by Night_wolf
raining very hard in mirpur now, eventhough the match isnt today it looks grim

long time since u last updated from Mirpur


Good thread akkel bro

Now that Taskin is back I'm very much confident we will win all three, we have so much quality in our team, only worry is the lack of matches played this year.

My team will be :

Tamim
SS
Ryad
Mushy
Sakib
Sabbir
NAsir/Mosa
Mash
Task
Rubel
Shafiul

I see no reason to go with a spinner, our pace attack is our strength , should keep it that way, and I will be looking forward to see Shafiul and wish him good luck.

[Mandela]

Hope this team is played:

1.Shabir Noori
2. Shahzad
3. Rahmat Shah
4. Hashmatullah
5. Asghar Stanikzai
6. Mohammad Nabi
7. Najibullah
8. Rashid Khan
9. Mirwais Ashraf
10. Dowlat Zadran
11. Fareed Malik/Naveen Ul Haq.

It's a team in transition with lot's of younger players getting in, so will b surprised if they put up a good fight.

[MHRAM]

Will be a tough match

Will be watching from the stadium. Hope we win iA

[fuadomar]

Looking forward to go to stadium tomorrow after quite a break!

[Rifat]

Bat first and pile on the runs...

[aklemalp]

So did BD include Taskin in the squad? What's the news?

[Anik SH]

Originally Posted by aklemalp
So did BD include Taskin in the squad? What's the news?

Yes they did.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Rifat
Bat first and pile on the runs...

Perfect time for that 400 Sabbir as referring to...although he was making that statement in regards to chasing 400..

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Anik SH
Yes they did.

Oh great! Thanks!!!

[MHRAM]

As i specified already in the thread, I am very nervous. This is match is no walk in the park. We will be rusty, really rusty.

Don't know about the form of the players especially batsman. Mushy and Soumya aren't in great form, Shakib and Sabbir aren't either. Riad and Mosaddek are doing fine and Tamim was out of practice for 3 weeks due to injury. Our bench has Nasir and Imrul. Perhaps team management will go with Nasir instead of Taijul because that gives a the batting order some relief especially Mosaddek and Sabbir.

Bowling is also important. Afghanistan batsman are more sloggers than accumulators except their captain. We need to get them out early and not lose calm when they hit those sixes because they will be coming.

But real test lies in facing Rashid Khan the leggie, Dawlat Zadran too.

[kmasum]

Very excited to see our tigers playing international game again !! Lets hope the weather gets better through out the day !

[One World]

Instead of taking one game at a time take one over at a time.
Apply specially while batting.

[Zeeshan]

Guys, guys....check out the official weather thread. aklemalp I don't think Sabbir can score 400 due to the weather.

[Eshen]

As per news reports, Shafiul may play ahead of Rubel!

I guess he is one of the most impressive net bowler in history of Bangladesh cricket (despite how mediocre he may look in real matches).

[Tiger444]

I see a lot of people bringing up the selection of Shafiul. Recently I saw an article where Walsh was impressed with Shafiul. This is probably why he's being selected. Let's see if he can justify the selection if given a chance

[RazabQ]

Well of the present crop of pacers, Shafiul is the only one who consistently swings it both ways with the new ball. Rubel only does it when the ball is old and there's reverse swing at play. Taskin is more of a shape in, nip back, hit the deck hard, Mash is a cutter and slower delivery bowler. Al Amin is a better version of Mash, but one who bats and fields crappier than the skipper. Hence Shafiul.

That's my theory at least.

[aklemalp]

Originally Posted by Zeeshan
Guys, guys....check out the official weather thread. aklemalp I don't think Sabbir can score 400 due to the weather.

I didn't mean to say that sabbir alone scoring 400. After the English World record...Sabbir mentioned of BD making 400.

But that weather thread is the next best thing this forum has to see!!

[Eshen]

Originally Posted by RazabQ
Well of the present crop of pacers, Shafiul is the only one who consistently swings it both ways with the new ball. Rubel only does it when the ball is old and there's reverse swing at play. Taskin is more of a shape in, nip back, hit the deck hard, Mash is a cutter and slower delivery bowler. Al Amin is a better version of Mash, but one who bats and fields crappier than the skipper. Hence Shafiul.

That's my theory at least.

My theory - Shafiul always gets some attention whenever we get a new bowling coach, but then interest in him fades away when the coaches realize how poor he is in applying himself in match situations.

[aklemalp]

Shakib is 2 wickets away from becoming BD's highest wicket taker in odis.

Bangladesh are 2 wins away from 100 in odis.