Considering that Bangladesh have been playing international cricket for nearly three decades, they would have been expected to get the better of rookies Afghanistan without a lot of trouble in their Asia Cup clash. However, Afghanistan proved why they are rated so highly among the upcoming sides in international cricket and also demonstrated enough talent as a result of which top sides won’t take them lightly anymore. Bangladesh, on the other hand, would be mighty disappointed that they couldn’t get the better of Afghanistan, and that too on their home turf. It was a performance that has embarrassed them.
There was no hint of the upset in store when Afghanistan lost half their wickets without much runs on the board batting first. However, this is where Afghanistan showed that they have the wherewithal to fight back, at least against a team of lesser calibre like Bangladesh. Even so, their effort was extraordinary considering their lack of experience and the opponents’ expertise under the conditions. After recovering magnificently with the bat, Afghanistan also showed a lot of promise with the ball, and to such a great extent that Bangladesh’s batsmen were found wanting.
The biggest factor in Afghanistan’s upset win was undoubtedly the partnership between Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari. When they joined forces the team was under extreme pressure, and one actually felt that the game would finish before the scheduled time. However, both Stanikzai and Shenwari displayed an unexpected level of matureness in the manner in which they handled the situation. Minnows are sometimes at an advantage since a lot is on expected of them. As such, there weren’t much hopes from the Afghan duo. Even so, no praise can be too high for them since they played knocks that defied their lack of experience.
With the ball as well, Afghanistan showed a lot of spark. The opening combination of Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hassan was fiery. In a few matches that Afghanistan have played earlier, we have seen that Zadran can be rather sharp and Hamid also exhibited his talent, earmarking him as one to watch out for. Skipper Mohammad Nabi’s talent has been talked about a lot even since Afghanistan have made the progress to the international stage. Against Bangladesh, he clearly demonstrated why he rated so highly, putting up a bowling performance that completely killed Bangladesh’s hopes.
As for the hosts, they will be extremely disheartened with their effort. Firstly, their bowlers allowed Afghanistan to recover from a disastrous start and post a challenging total. They still had a chance to seize the initiative back with the bat, but failed to so the same. Five of their batsmen got starts, but each one of them was dismissed when the team wanted them to carry on. The match was a clear example of how badly they missed Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan. Still, Bangladesh should have done a lot better than going down to the sprightly Afghanistan.
--By A Cricket Analyst
