Tigers out to break defeat jinx against Afghanistan

402

CHATTOGRAM, Sept 20, 2019 (BSS)- Bangladesh is eying to break the jinx of
perpetual defeat against Afghanistan as they take on the visitors in the
second leg encounter and last group phase match of the Tri-nation T20 series
at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Saturday.

The match starts at 6.30 pm.

With both of the team reaching finals at the expense of Zimbabwe, the third
team of the tournament, the match is a mere dead rubber but the stake is
unarguably high for Bangladesh and also for Afghanistan as it is considered
as dress rehearsal for the Tri-series T20 final on September 24.

The Tigers lost their first leg match of the tournament to Afghanistan by
25 runs which made it their four straight loss to Afghans in the format. They
also tasted a humiliating 224-run defeat to the Afghans in one-off Test
before the Tri-nation T20 tournament.

Bangladesh in fact won just one T20 against Afghanistan out of five matches
as they playing against each other and that lone victory came in the 2014
World T20, a tournament that Bangladesh hosted.

While Bangladesh is yet to get their act right when it comes to T20
cricket, Afghanistan had gone from strength to strength with every passing
day.

Their dominance against Tigers began when they whitewashed them in three-
match T20 series in Dehradun, 2018.

During the course of time, Afghanistan spinners looked to have started
having a psychological edge over their opponent.

Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi played an integral part
behind this dominance as they picked 20 wickets among themselves in the last
four games.

It seemed Bangladesh batting consultant Neil McKenzie understood the
importance of helping his charges in this crisis moment more than anyone else
as he was seen spending a long time trying to make them understand of playing
in the V-through the mid-off and mid-on region which looked to be the safest
way to handle the spin trio of Afghanistan.

What looked to be a major concern for the host batsman was the way they
were eager to hit it through the mid-wicket region for some reason or the
other apart from trying to come up with some sort of improvisation like the
scoop and reverse sweep instead of playing straight through the ground.

Mahmudullah looked to be an exception in the last game as he was more
concerned to play straighter than choosing other options on his way to a
brilliant half-century against Zimbabwe and it looked to be better option
than trying to play all those over ambitious shots.

Bangladesh, however, won their first match against Zimbabwe by three
wickets after surviving a scare but their second victory, a 39-run win
against Zimbabwe in the double-league tournament was convincing one.

Taking the turn of Afghanistan spinners into consideration going through
the mid-wicket region cannot be termed as the safest option and in all
probability the batsmen are likely to hit against the spin and that creates
more chances for the opponent.

Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan was out trying to play over the top
against Zimbabwe and it was the same shot that he tried one after another
during his net session and it only implies his intentions against the
Afghans.

Other two seniors Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah also looked to be focused
on playing the shots according to their strength in the nets under the
observation of head coach Russell Domingo and the batting is in the focus
ahead of the Afghans clash.