Afghanistan won the toss and sent Bangladesh into bat in the first match of three-match ODI series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Wednesday.
Afghanistan was a force in the ICC ODI Super League, winning 11 out of 15 matches but their ODI record against Bangladesh was not dominating one. The Tiger won the seven and lost four matches in 11 encounters between the two teams.
The two teams met last year in Bangladesh with the hosts taking the series by 2-1, despite facing a stern challenge from the Afghans. Bangladesh in fact have been such a dominating force in ODI format at own backyard that they only lost two series at home since 2015 and all of those two defeats came against World Champions England who beat them in 2016 and this year.
Even though this series is not the part of ICC ODI Super League, for Bangladesh it will be hugely significant. A 3-0 victory over the Afghans, which is an extremely tough task, would help Bangladesh move to fifth place in ICC ODI rankings for the first time in their history. Also their rating points will go past 100 for the first time in case of a clean sweep.
While it is important to get a ranking boost, it similarly crucial for the team management to rotate players as much as they can to find out their best combination for the upcoming World Cup.
Bangladesh squad: 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Litton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 7 Afif Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Hasan Mahmud
Afghanistan squad: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Rahmat Shah, 4 Hashmatullah Shahidi (capt), 5 Mohammad Nabi, 6 Najibullah Zadran, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 9 Fazalhaq Farooqi, 10 Azmatullah Omarzai, 11 Mohammad Saleem