Asia Cup, Bangladesh vs Afghanistan: Shakib elects to bat
Bangladesh and Afghanistan will square off in the third match of the 2022 Asia Cup at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Afghanistan are coming off a one-sided win against Sri Lanka in the tournament opener. Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan will feature in his 100th T20I. The news from the center is that he has won the toss and elected to bat.
Here are the two teams
Bangladesh (Playing XI): MohammadNaim, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan (captain), Afif Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicket-keeper), Mosaddek Hossain, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman. Afghanistan (Playing XI): Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wicket-keeper), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi (captain), Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Pitch report, timing, and TV listing
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Dubai will host the affair. The wicket usually offers plenty of assistance to both batters. Sharjah has seen several high-scoring encounters due to shorter boundaries. The average first-innings score on this ground is 150 (T20s). The match will be telecast live on Star Sports Network (7:30 PM IST) and live-streamed on the Hotstar app (paid subscription).
Afghanistan lead Bangladesh 5-3 in T20Is
At the Asia Cup, Afghanistan lead Bangladesh 2-1 in ODIs, while the two teams are yet to play the T20I format. Bangladesh won their only Asia Cup match against Afghanistan in 2018. In overall T20Is, Afghanistan own a 5-3 lead over Bangladesh.
Shakib gets his 100th T20I cap
Bangladesh skipper Shakib is set to play his 100th T20 International. He received his 100th T20I cap, thereby becoming the third player from Bangladesh to feature in as many T20Is. The 35-year-old is the leading wicket-taker in the format. In an international career spanning over a decade, Shakib has registered 121 wickets and 2,010 runs in T20I cricket for Bangladesh.
