With a full-strength Bangladesh side lying in wait at Mirpur today in the opening game of the ICC World Twenty20 2014, Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said on the eve of the clash that they were not worried about the opposition. Rather, the Afghans will concentrate on playing their own game against Bangladesh in the much-talked about first-round encounter.Afghanistan met Bangladesh at Fatullah a few weeks ago in the Asia Cup where the hosts suffered a 32-run defeat. This was the Afghans’ first one-day international win in their fourth game against an ICC full member nation.
Bangladesh, however, were missing three experienced cricketers in that game on March 1. While opener Tamim Iqbal and paceman Mashrafee bin Murtaza were out with a neck strain and side strain respectively, all rounder Sakib al Hasan was serving the last of his three-game suspension.
Irrespective of the composition of the home side, the Afghan skipper said they will play their natural game rather than fretting over the opposition.
‘Yeah, we are not playing [against] the names. We are playing the game. That is why we will just play. We will not think who is in the other side,’ Nabi told the media on Saturday.
‘Sakib, Tamim or Masfrafee, we will just play the game and handle the situation.
‘We are relaxed. As our manager Kabir Khan said there will be pressure on the Bangladesh team. It’s their home ground, their supporters. So the pressure will be on Bangladesh,’ said Nabi.
Nabi went on to say that they were a much better outfit in T20s than ODIs.
‘We have a good batting side in T20. And we have good all-rounders as well. We have five-six all-rounders in the team. That’s why we are a better T20 side. Our fielding is also getting better. And we have a good bowling attack,’ said the 29-year-old all rounder.
Despite going down by seven wickets in a warm-up game against Zimbabwe two days ago in Chittagong, Nabi stated it would rather help his team.
‘The last game [against Zimbabwe] we played very well. [Hamilton] Masakadza played very well. We lost the game in the very last over. That’s why I think it was a good fight against Zimbabwe,’ said Nabi.
The Afghans have faced Bangladesh twice in T20s previously.
In 2010, Bangladesh beat Afghanistan by five wickets in the Asian Games final in Guangzhou, while two years later Bangladesh Cricket Board XI overcame the Afghans by eight wickets in Trinidad & Tobago.
Nabi though took comfort from the competitive nature of those two games. In Guangzhou, Bangladesh posted a win with three balls to spare while in Trinidad, BCB XI registered a victory with four deliveries remaining.
‘Yeah we lost a close T20 game and the other one in [Trinidad & Tobago] was also close. Both games were close. They didn’t win easily and we’ll give more effort this time,’ said Nabi.
Six Afghan players have plied their trade in the Bangladesh domestic circuit. Nabi said that it would serve them well.
‘Six players have played domestic cricket in Bangladesh. It’s a good experience for the Afghanistan team,’ he said.
‘And you know, Afghanistan are a better team in T20s. [God willing] we’ll try our best.’
-With New Age input
