After a disappointing Asia Cup, a depleted Bangladesh national cricket team is set to take on Afghanistan in the first of the three-match T20I series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE today.
The match is scheduled to begin at 9:00pm Bangladesh Standard Time.
Fresh from their wound when they failed to chase down 135 runs against Pakistan to qualify for the final of the Asia Cup, Bangladesh had another setback as regular captain Liton Das was ruled out due to an injury.
鈥楲iton鈥檚 news is a bit harsh for us. He is the skipper, and he is doing really well with the bat. So, that cost us in the Asia Cup. But we move forward and keep looking forward to doing well,鈥� said stand-in captain, Jaker Ali.
However, Soumya Sarkar, the replacement for Liton, was yet to reach UAE due to visa problems.
鈥楽oumya is on the way. He had some issues with his visa, as the visa issue is a bit complicated here. When it is solved, Soumya will be ready. BCB is taking care of the issue. Hopefully he will get the visa quickly,鈥� the team management said in a statement.
However, it was learnt that Soumya is likely to miss the first match.
Batting has been a concern for Bangladesh for quite some time now and clearly was the main reason for their failures in the Asia Cup. Jaker admitted that it needed more attention.
鈥極ur main plan will be to perform as a batting unit, as we had to suffer due to our batting. That鈥檚 why we have to pay our attention to the batting side,鈥� he said.
However, the wicketkeeper-batter hoped that they鈥檇 have a good mindset going into this series.
He said, 鈥極bviously, it is a bit disappointing. We come here with a hope of playing good cricket in the Asia Cup. But we failed to do that. But yes, we have a good mindset to play this series well.鈥�
鈥榃e had a mindset. Before the Asia Cup, we knew that we would have a series against Afghanistan. We kept ourselves ready for this series. And yes, in the Asia Cup, we played a couple of good matches. Unfortunately, we did not get the results. Now, we are looking forward to this series,鈥� he added.
Jaker also promised to deliver in the middle while fulfilling his role as the stand-in captain.
鈥榃e are just looking to go according to our strength and our game plan. I am new as a captain, so I am trying to adjust those things and keep delivering in the centre,鈥� he said.
鈥業 am just normal. As I have been given the responsibility, I will try to perform the duties and play according to the team plan,鈥� he added.
The historic Sharjah Stadium is more familiar to the Afghan side, as it was once their adopted home ground.
They also played a tri-series against UAE and Pakistan just before the Asia Cup. Bangladesh, on the other hand, had bitter recent memories, as they lost to UAE in a three-match series in May.
鈥榃e have to play well on a particular day. We could not play well as a team in that [UAE] series,鈥� said Jaker.
