Bangladesh lose toss, sent to bat against Afghans

After the losing the toss, Bangladesh have been sent batting first in the one-off Test match against Afghanistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Opening batsman Tamim Iqbal was earlier ruled out of the match due to lower back pain.

National Team physio Muzadded Alpha Sany said, "Tamim has been experiencing lower back pain which has troubled him from time to time."

Afghanistan played their last test in 2021 against Zimbabwe and only four players survived from that squad to face Bangladesh.

Bangladesh will miss the service of captain Shakib Al Hasan who was ruled out with a finger injury. Liton Das will lead the side in absence of him.

However, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha was unfazed by those problems, saying that they should continue to play the attacking brand of cricket that they played against Ireland. Bangladesh scored just above 4.50 per over in that test they won by seven wickets.

According to Hathurusingha since the series is not the part of World Test Championship, they can still experiment with this brand of cricket to get used to it.

Bangladesh Squad:

Liton Das (Captain), Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Mushfik Hasan.

Afghanistan Squad:

Ibrahim Zadran, Abdul Malik, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(Captain), Nasir Jamal, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Amir Hamza, Zahir Khan, Nijat Masood, Yamin Ahmadzai.

/KN/MHK/