Match Thread: ICC WC 2015 - Afghanistan vs. Bangladesh at Canberra, Australia; February the 18th, 2015

[kalpurush]

Match Info Venue Weather Time Live Score the Tigers the Afghans BanglaCricket



Match preview: rinathq

Alright... we are finally here. The long wait is over and we only have 4 days till Bangladesh faces Afghanistan in the first match for both teams in the 2015 WC. Preparations made us prepare for the worst, warmups have left us freezing, practice matches have given us fans a chance to practice controlling frustration. So what now? I guess we can start talking about our next home series as this campaign seems like a lost cause already. But wait, we are talking about Bangladesh and Bangladeshi fans. Half of the fans are still hoping for a quarter final contest and some of them are hoping for semis and finals (bless them). As for the team, well they have a habit of shocking us either in a good way or the bad. Here we are expecting Bangladesh to get humiliated but you never know.... they might be the one humiliating one of the opponents. And it helps when they get started against a rookie side in the competition.

I think its best if the boys can walk into the field feeling confident about themselves and not worry about beating a minnow side or the consequence of losing to them. Bangladesh is not a side than can perform with a bare minimum pressure. For players like Mashrafe, Shakib, Tamim, Mushy, Riyad... it will be upto them to relax themselves and play their own game which is good enough to beat Afghanistan without any special effort. For the youngsters, it will be upto them to really fight it out with full energy and prove their talent which primarily why they are picked in the first place.

Afghanistan is a very dangerous side and if not stopped early enough can easily take away the game very quickly. They are bound to perform better than us in pressure situation than our mentally fragile players so the game cannot go down to the wire because Bangladesh has a far less chance of winning from there. If I were to describe Afghanistan team in one sentence, i would say, this is a side of aggressive batsmen and strong fast bowlers. this can be a very deadly combination in the Aussie conditions if both department clicks. But both factors has their negatives that go side by side. Aggressive batsmen means, restricting them from scoring by good fielding setup and a good bowling plan can see them throwing their wickets away. Strong fast bowlers mean they will hit the deck pretty hard and if the batsmen are smart enough, they can use the pace of the bowl to score lot of runs without any significant effort.

Afghanistan in past shown that they get carried away against spin and tried to punish every spinner. This is where Bangladesh benefited the last time they faced each other and despite the conditions, Bangladesh would hope that the spinners can bowl accurately to create some chances. Bangladeshi seamers even at their best cannot be trusted to take 10 wickets so cannot just rely on them to win matches. This will be a golden opportunity for Taijul or Arafat to perform at the big stage and they have the luxury of playing against a weaker side against spin. The goal should be to bowl them out as cheaply as possible and not rely on the batsmen to post or defend a big total.

Bangladesh with the talent being offered should have a cracker of a batting lineup. But our batsmen are like beauty with no brains. If they start quickly, wickets also fall in succession but if they start steady, wickets fall when they try accelerate. I am yet to discover the solution for our batting attack.

Finally, my preferred XI for the game...

Tamim
Soumya
Mushy
Riyad
Shakib
Anamul
Shabbir
Mashrafe
Arafat
Rubel
Taskin

Anamul cant open... just cant. I can write essays about why but I think by now we all know why. But I think he likes to hit so we can use him later on. As Nasir failed to convert his chances, I am willing to give Anamul a chance down the order and see how he plays. I think he will perform much better down the order where he can go strike strike and strike. Like I said before, the most technically proficient batsman of the team should play no.3 or 4 but not lower than that. As Riyad has settled with no.4.... Mushy should come out at 3 and build an innings. Rest fall into places automatically

[Nadim]

Bismillah...

Come on Tigers, Let's do this


BTW Only Afghan player I'm worried about is S. Zardan. Hamid Hassan is not the same bowler as he was before injury so we can take care of him. But Zardan will trouble us more than anyone else.

[Night_wolf]

Beginning of the humiliation

[mehedi]

Bismillah... Let the game begin

Looking at last few games I think the playing eleven would be more or less like this

1 tamim
2 Bijoy
3 sorkar
4 Riyad
5 Sakib
6 Mushfiq
7 sabbir
8 mash
9 al Amin
10 taijul( I would take Nasir instead, as he, Riyad & sabbir can fill up the fifth bowler quota)
11 Taskin

[Vepu]

Originally Posted by mehedi
Bismillah... Let the game begin

Looking at last few games I think the playing eleven would be more or less like this

1 tamim
2 Bijoy
3 sorkar
4 Riyad
5 Sakib
6 Mushfiq
7 sabbir
8 mash
9 al Amin
10 taijul( I would take Nasir instead, as he, Riyad & sabbir can fill up the fifth bowler quota)
11 Taskin

There is no way we are going without rubel. Al amin has to sit down

[naim519]

Eyes closedddd Lets see what happens

[al Furqaan]

Bismillahir rahmanir rahim!

[Vua]

Loss on the cards. It's funny how we used to walk over Associate countries and now we consider them like bloody Australian team!

[Rifat]

Good job Kalpurush bhai If anyone should open match thread's it's you

[Rifat]

my Lineup for this match:

1. Tamim Iqbal Khan
2. Soumya Sarkar
3. Shakib-al-Hasan
4. Mahmuduallah Riyad
5. Mushfiqur Rahim
6. Nasir Hossain
7. Sabbir Rahman
8. Mashrafee Mortaza
9. Taijul Islam
10. Rubel Hossain
11. Taskin Ahmed

Shakib at #3 as we need quickfire runs at the top, Shakib is someone who is known to step up in big occasions so why not make the most of it. Riyad and Rahim can consolidate in case early collapse happens(which is about 90% of the time anyway regardless of who opens in top 3....). Nasir and Sabbir are potential finishers. Having three pacers will put less pressure on our spinners if the conditions do not favor them, at the same time we have Shakib, Riyad, and Taijul and Sabbir so that's plenty of spin options for ya. Soumya can also chip in but i wouldn't count on it....Expecting something in it for the pacers in this pitch....

[Rana Melb]

I know people has different opinions. But I think this is the probable playing 11


Tamim
Anamul
Sarker
Riad
Shakib
Mushi
Shabbir
Mash
Taijul
Rubel
Taskin

Personally I would play Mushi at number 5 and Anamul in number 3.The way Shakib is batting nowadays number 6 is ideal position for him.

[shabbir]

First game may change full complexion of our WC.Inshallah we will win.

[bujhee kom]

Khela besh jomey uthuk ei asha rakhi....

[Rana Melb]

We should bat first.

[Hawk-Eye]

We can't just lose to Afghanistan. Go tiger go...

[Shehwar]

I'm so nervous about this match! We badly need to win this to have any hope of reaching the q/f

[iDumb]

Guys have no fear... We will crush Afghanistan. You guys are worried for no reason. BD should pack their bags and go home if they are afraid of losing to afg.

THis will be a very one side match with BD winning by either >5 wickets or >100 runs. I am willing to bet money on it.

[BANFAN]

Originally Posted by iDumb
Guys have no fear... We will crush Afghanistan. You guys are worried for no reason. BD should pack their bags and go home if they are afraid of losing to afg.

THis will be a very one side match with BD winning by either >5 wickets or >100 runs. I am willing to bet money on it.

Ya, me too ... Ready to bet on the same side

Here, Caution is Turning into Fear

[tanvir_nus]

Will be there live to witness it.

Will cheer and motivate the team.

[Equinox]

Just beat the associates, please.

[Rana Melb]

Yay my bd jersey has arrived... looks ok.

[Rifat]

If Mahmudullah is bowling well, he should be given the full 10 overs.

[simon]

Allah tumi amader jitaya dao, amra shonkhay beshi jodio namaz amra Afgun der cheye ektu kom pori.
shobai Allah Allah koren

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[Moh899]

Allah rokkha koira amader!

[bujhee kom]

Allah Apni amader somosto path-ghaat, rasta, journey, exam, porikkhar proshno etc. khub sohoj koira den - ar amader opponent/sotrur jonno sob kichu khub Kothin koira den!

Allah apni amader sohaiota koren, borkot den jatey koira amra durgom sagor/doriya ek bash-er bhanga shako diya very easily paara-par hoiya jaitey pari - ar amder sotrura jatey panitey poira hau mau koira kandey!