Kingstown, Afghanistan will watch the clash between India and Australia with bated breath, hoping that the 'Men in Blue' will be on the winning side, a result that will give them a golden opportunity to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals T20 when they face each other. Bangladesh in their Super Eights match.
Afghanistan boosted their chances of reaching their first World Cup semi-final when they defeated the powerful Australian on Saturday.
As things stand, India leads the group followed by Australia and Afghanistan (both with 2 points each) and Bangladesh is last.
Rohit Sharma and his men are favorites to qualify for the final four with a net run rate of 2.425, while Australia (0.223) has a higher NRR compared to Afghanistan (-0.650).
Rashid Khan and company will hope that India does them a favor by beating Australia so that they can go into the clash knowing exactly what they need to do to reach the semi-finals.
But if Australia wins, it will be an uphill task for Afghanistan to overtake the former champions in NRR. That said, Afghanistan will be high on confidence having exacted revenge on Australia for their ODI World Cup defeat last year in Mumbai.
Regardless of the outcome between India and Australia, the Afghans would love to have a chance against a flagging Bangladesh side, who seemed happy just to progress to the Super Eight.
Whether Afghanistan has the skills and mentality to excel in the format is not up for debate. They have shown that they are no longer a team that relies solely on their bowling unit to get wins.
Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the leading run-maker, and Ibrahim Zadran have set the tournament on fire with their sensational knocks.
In addition, Afghans enjoy the conditions offered by the Caribbean fields. Having a large number of quality SUVs has only helped their cause.
They will face Bangladesh at the same venue where they defeated Australia and the friendly conditions will help them.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, has already surrendered. Although they have a minuscule chance of advancing to the semi-finals, back-to-back losses against Australia and India have deflated their confidence.
"To be honest, I don't think we have any more chance of playing in the semi-final after this loss (against India)," all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said on Saturday.
Bangladesh have struggled with their batting throughout the tournament. The lack of power hitters has also hurt them. The disappointing performance of opener Litton Das and Tanzid Khan has also compounded their problems.
However, Towid Hridoy and Rishad Hossain have impressed with their performance. The match against Afghanistan is an opportunity for them to finish their campaign on a high.
"But having said that, the next match will be a chance for us to get a win before finishing this tournament," Shakib said.
"We would love to finish this tournament on a high. We have to face Afghanistan, who are a very good team. So we have to do our best to beat them," he added.
Teams of):
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Hazratullah Zazai, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Jaker Ali, Tanvir Islam, Shoriful Islam, Soumya Sarkar.
The match starts at 6:00 am IST.
Afghanistan boosted their chances of reaching their first World Cup semi-final when they defeated the powerful Australian on Saturday.
As things stand, India leads the group followed by Australia and Afghanistan (both with 2 points each) and Bangladesh is last.
Rohit Sharma and his men are favorites to qualify for the final four with a net run rate of 2.425, while Australia (0.223) has a higher NRR compared to Afghanistan (-0.650).
Rashid Khan and company will hope that India does them a favor by beating Australia so that they can go into the clash knowing exactly what they need to do to reach the semi-finals.
But if Australia wins, it will be an uphill task for Afghanistan to overtake the former champions in NRR. That said, Afghanistan will be high on confidence having exacted revenge on Australia for their ODI World Cup defeat last year in Mumbai.
Regardless of the outcome between India and Australia, the Afghans would love to have a chance against a flagging Bangladesh side, who seemed happy just to progress to the Super Eight.
Whether Afghanistan has the skills and mentality to excel in the format is not up for debate. They have shown that they are no longer a team that relies solely on their bowling unit to get wins.
Openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the leading run-maker, and Ibrahim Zadran have set the tournament on fire with their sensational knocks.
In addition, Afghans enjoy the conditions offered by the Caribbean fields. Having a large number of quality SUVs has only helped their cause.
They will face Bangladesh at the same venue where they defeated Australia and the friendly conditions will help them.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, has already surrendered. Although they have a minuscule chance of advancing to the semi-finals, back-to-back losses against Australia and India have deflated their confidence.
"To be honest, I don't think we have any more chance of playing in the semi-final after this loss (against India)," all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said on Saturday.
Bangladesh have struggled with their batting throughout the tournament. The lack of power hitters has also hurt them. The disappointing performance of opener Litton Das and Tanzid Khan has also compounded their problems.
However, Towid Hridoy and Rishad Hossain have impressed with their performance. The match against Afghanistan is an opportunity for them to finish their campaign on a high.
"But having said that, the next match will be a chance for us to get a win before finishing this tournament," Shakib said.
"We would love to finish this tournament on a high. We have to face Afghanistan, who are a very good team. So we have to do our best to beat them," he added.
Teams of):
Afghanistan: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti, Hazratullah Zazai, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.
Bangladesh: Tanzid Hasan, Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman, Jaker Ali, Tanvir Islam, Shoriful Islam, Soumya Sarkar.
The match starts at 6:00 am IST.
