Bangladesh made a shameful record of a series loss at home against Afghanistan. As a result of this recent ODI series loss, the Bangladesh national cricket team lost the series with Afghanistan in all three formats. After the first ODI match, Bangladesh lost badly in the second ODI match as well. What is the reason for Bangladesh's loss? The rise of Afghanistan cricket or the decline of Bangladesh cricket? Let's discuss Bangladesh's first two ODI matches against Afghanistan!
The Afghanistan team visited Bangladesh a week ago. After a few months, the ICC World Cup tournament will be held in India. As the tournament is organized in a one-day format, this series is being organized between Bangladesh and Afghanistan as a preparation for it. It is good to say that Bangladesh and Afghanistan have directly qualified for the main stage of this World Cup.
The first ODI match between the two teams in this World Cup preparation series was held at the Zahur Ahmed Cricket Stadium in Chittagong. In that match, Afghanistan captain Hasmatullah Shahidi won the toss and decided to bowl. They planned to take the wicket of Bangladesh and pressurize them. They carried out their plan 100%.
Initially batting for Bangladesh, two openers Liton Das and captain Tamim Iqbal failed to take far their innings. The rest of the team's players were also unsuccessful in front of the Afghanistan bowlers. The only exception was young player Tawhid Hridoy. Tawhid Ridoy completed his half-century in the rain-hit match but it wasn't enough. In the end, the Bangladesh team collected only 169 runs in that match.
The team got off to a great start as they chased a little run. The two openers combined for a partnership of 50+ runs. Despite losing two wickets at the midway point, Afghanistan won the match by 17 runs under the rain-delayed rule. As a result, they lead the series 1-0.
After the loss in the first match, the fans of Bangladesh hoped that Bangladesh would make a comeback in the second match. Because Bangladesh is a strong team in ODI at home. The last few series are proof of that. But this time the luck is probably not in favor of Bangladesh. After the first match, Bangladesh lost the second match more badly. In the 2nd match, the team lost by 140+ runs
Although Bangladesh won the toss in this match at the Chittagong ground, they were not able to use it. On the invitation of Bangladesh, Afghanistan batted first and made a record opening pair. Both the openers brought up individual hundreds that gave Afghanistan the lead in the match. Bangladesh's batting performance was very disappointing in response to Afghanistan's 330+ runs. Bangladesh team was all out for only 189 runs. As a result, the Afghans won the ODI series against Bangladesh for the first time with a huge victory
This series of World Cup preparation between the two teams is satisfactory for Afghans but the Bangladesh team has a different picture. A performance like this before the World Cup is unacceptable. The dream of winning the World Cup with this team may remain the dream of Bangladesh!
