Abu Dhabi, Sep 16 (IANS) Bangladesh captain Litton Das won the toss and elected to bat first against Afghanistan in the Group B encounter of the Men’s T20 Asia Cup at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Bangladesh made four changes to their lineup, recalling Taskin Ahmed and opting for a bowling mix featuring three spinners and two fast bowlers.
“We’ll bat first. All boys are excited for this game; this is a must-win game. The wicket looks a bit on the slower side; 160 would be a good total. It looks like a good batting surface, but a bit on the slower side. The mood in the camp is good; we have had a good last few months. Can’t think too much about the previous game. We have four changes – Taskin is coming back. We have three spinners and two pacers,” Bangladesh captain Litton Das said at the toss.
Afghanistan decided to go into the match with an unchanged team that played in the tournament opener against Hong Kong.
“Would have loved to bat first as well, but in T20 it doesn’t really matter. The guys had a good off for three days, and we got a good practice session. Our strength is our bowling unit, especially spin bowling. We still need to bowl well as a unit and hit the right areas consistently. We need to come out with a positive mindset. Body feels great, looking forward to enjoying. We go with the same team that played against Hong Kong,” Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan said.
It is a must-win game for Bangladesh after losing to Sri Lanka in their last match. The Bangla Tigers started their campaign with a thumping seven-wicket win over Hong Kong.
On the other hand, Afghanistan outclassed Hong Kong by 94 runs in their opening match and are currently placed second in the Group B table behind Sri Lanka, who hold four points with two wins.
Playing XIs:
Afghanistan: Sediqullah Atal, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, AM Ghazanfar, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Saif Hassan, Litton Das (wk/c), Towhid Hridoy, Mahedi Hasan, Nurul Hasan, Jaker Ali, Shamim Hossain, Rishad Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed.
–IANS
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