Shanto: My wicket made the difference

|| CF DESK ||

Formats may change, as do players and the intensity of competition, but one issue remains constant for Bangladesh: their persistent batting struggles. Be it Test matches, T20s, or their preferred format of ODIs, Bangladesh's batting continues to disappoint.

This trend persisted against Afghanistan in the ODI opener of three-match series on Wednesday, with Najmul Hossain Shanto’s team facing familiar batting challenges, resulting in yet another substantial defeat.

At Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Dubai, Bangladesh lost the first ODI of the three-match series by 92 runs. In terms of run margin, this stands as Bangladesh’s third-largest defeat to Afghanistan in ODIs.

Out of 17 ODIs played between the teams, Bangladesh has now lost seven times to Afghanistan. In a dismal batting display, Bangladesh collapsed with 15.3 overs remaining, losing their last seven wickets for a mere 23 runs.

“We started well in the first 15-20 overs. But we didn't execute our plans in the middle overs. Nabi batted brilliantly. We didn't need to attack more. The wicket had enough help for the bowlers. I think Shahidi and Nabi batted really well,” Shanto said in the presentation.

“My wicket made the difference. I was the set batter and needed to bat longer. Afghanistan always have mystery spinners and he (Allah Ghazanfar) bowled really well. The preparation was brilliant but today was not our day and hopefully we can turn it around.”

Afghanistan are slowly turning Sharjah into their fortress. It has not been long since they registered their maiden series win against South Africa and today they have blown Bangladesh away. In both innings they were under pressure but found ways to get out of it and take a 1-0 lead.

“Quite happy with the performance. It was good and looking forward to the next game. I believed it was enough. We had lost 5 wickets but when Nabi came, he batted positively and we spoke about 220 would be a good score. The bowlers then did their job. The way the spinners bowled was brilliant. He (Allah Ghazanfar) is a special talent and has a good future for Afghanistan. He bowled well in the first spell, but he bowled that no-ball and I asked him why did he bowl a no-ball. I am very happy with the options we have on the bench. It is unfortunate that we don't have Ibrahim, he's the best opener in Afghanistan, we missed Mujeeb as well and Gurbaz too could not keep because of an injury.” Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahid said.