BAN vs AFG 1st ODI Match Prediction

BAN vs AFG Team Previews

Bangladesh

Bangladesh has played some excellent cricket since the start of this year. They managed to win an ODI against England after a gap of almost 7 years and went on to whitewash them in the 3-match T20 series. That was followed by back-to-back series wins against Ireland in both, ODIs and T20s, as well as a win in the one-off Test Match.

Their form has spilled over to this series too, as they registered their biggest-ever Test win, defeating Afghanistan by 546 runs. Bangladesh will be looking to continue with its winning momentum and hoping to gain an early advantage in this series by winning here.

Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al-Hasan will make a return here after missing out on the Test match due to injuries. Iqbal is the only Bangladeshi batsman to have scored over 8000 runs in his ODI career and will add strength to the top order along with Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy.

Litton Das and Mustafizur Rahim are two of the most experienced batsmen on the team and will play an important role during the middle overs, while all-rounders Shakib Al-Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz add depth to the batting.

Bangladesh is spoilt for choice in the seam department as all its bowlers, including Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, and Hasan Mahmud are in good form. The spin department will be handled by all-rounders Shakib and Mehidy, as well as Taijul Islam. 

Afghanistan

Afghanistan will be quite disappointed with its effort in the Test match and will be desperate to turn things around here.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran will look to give the team a strong start here. Zadran has been in particularly good form and will be a key player for the visitors. Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, and Rahmat Shah are likely to feature in the middle order, while Mohammad Nabi, who is back in the ODI squad, will add depth to the batting.

Afghanistan's batting has improved quite a lot in recent times and the emergence of Ibrahim Zadran has a big role to play in that.

But perhaps the biggest boost for Afghanistan will be the return of Rashid Khan, who has recovered from his back injury. In a bid to increase the talent pool ahead of the upcoming ODI World Cup, the team has included as many as 5 uncapped players in the squad, including Izharulhaq Naveed, Abdur Rahman, Zia Akbar, Saleem Shafi, and Wafadar Momand.

Azmatullah Omarzai will feature in the pace attack along with Fazalhaq Farooqi, while Mujeeb Ur Rahman will be seen alongside Rashid in the spin department.