Just a few days ahead of the big series against England at home, Bangladesh's top priority at the moment would be ironing out the chinks in their armour that were exposed by Afghanistan on Sunday (September 25) in the first One-Day International. It nearly cost them big time before the returning Taskin Ahmed struck some crucial blows at the death to hand his side a narrow seven-run win. They may have to combat the rain threat as well in order to force a result as a downpour is expected late in the evening.
Not playing international cricket for six months definitely had a telling impact on the hosts as highlighted by their talismanic all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who once again bailed his side out with both bat and ball. Bangladesh would specifically look to bat better at the death than they did in the first ODI since they collapsed to 265 all out despite being in a strong position at one stage.
The likes of Mushfiqur Rahim and Sabbir Rahman would look to make amends after their failure while opener Soumya Sarkar had an off day as well. The home side though would be encouraged by their exploits in the death overs with Shakib, Taskin and Rubel Hossain combining to stifle Afghanistan. The visitors at one stage were well on their way to register a memorable victory before faltering in the end.
They would have ideally liked Hashmatullah Shahidi to kick on and finish the job after he batted for 110 deliveries to score 72. It will be interesting to see if the Afghanistan think-tank decides to promote skipper Asghar Stanikzai above the order this time after batting at No. 3 in the ICC World Twenty20 earlier this year. The new ball bowlers Dawlat Zadran and Naveed-ul-Haq would look for improvements as well after being expensive on Sunday.
Such a tight loss would have hurt them especially at a time when they are climbing the ladder in the international circuit making massive strides but with some minor adjustments they can back themselves to level the series on Wednesday.
When: September 28, Wednesday at 14:30 Local Time (14:00 IST)
Where: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur
What to expect: Rain is forecast for the evening
Team news:
Both teams are expected to field the same playing XI after a closely fought encounter.
Did you know?
-A win in the second ODI would give Bangladesh their sixth straight series win at home starting from November 2014. They never won more than two in a trot at home before this.
-Tamim Iqbal's last five ODI innings reads 61*, 40, 19, 73 and 80 - 273 runs with three fifties.
-In 22 ODIs from the start of the 2015 World Cup, Asghar Stanikazi has scored just 312 runs at 14.18 with a solitary fifty.
What they said:
"The most important practice is to stay in the game and to play the game. No matter how much you run or practice, match fitness is something else altogether. When you keep playing matches, things become a lot easier. No matter what situation you try to create at practice, it won't reach that level." - Bangladesh all-rounder, Shakib Al Hasan
Squads:
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Mosaddek Hossain, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Nasir Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Taijul Islam, Shafiul Islam, Rubel Hossain
Afghanistan: Asghar Stanikzai (Captain), Mohammad Shahzad, Rahmat Shah, Mirwais Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Rashid Khan, Hashmatullah Shaidi, Fareed Ahmad, Amir Hamza, Najibullah Zadran, Nawroz Mangal, Naveen-ul-Haq, Karim Janat, Shabir Noori, Ihsanullah
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