Sport
Bangladesh won’t take Afghanistan lightly: chief selector
As Afghanistan are set to face Bangladesh in an all-format tour, Bangladesh’s chief selector has said that they are currently giving their full focus on the series and are planning to set up teams for it.
“We’re not thinking about what is being talked outside. The World Cup is still four months away. We have series against Afghanistan and we are thinking of these back-to-back series,” Minhaju Abedin said, Bangladesh’s New Age newspaper reported.
“We will be hosting Afghanistan in all three formats so we are now organizing our teams for that. I think we are the only Test-playing side who are discussing the World Cup now. We have to make a team for the World Cup keeping the fitness and performance of the players in mind,” he said.
The former national captain also informed that they will finalise the squads for Afghanistan series by next week and the players will start their preparation for that series on May 29.
“We are now preparing the squad for the Afghanistan series and we are hopeful to form the squads and inform the BCB next week. The practice session will start on 29th [May],” he said, adding that there had been no discussion regarding resting all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan in the series.
“We didn’t have any discussion about it. He [Shakib] will need six-week time for recovery as there was a fracture. He might miss the Test series. But as there is a long gap before the ODI series, I expect him to return to the ODI squad,” said Minhajul.
Meanwhile, Minhajul also denied to make any experiment against Afghanistan in the upcoming series and was hopeful to field the best possible side.
Bangladesh don’t have a good record against the Afghans, especially in the longer format, as they lost the only Test between the two sides by a massive 224-run margin in Chattogram in 2019.
“We won’t do any experiments. Afghanistan are a very good side. We had a bad experiment against them as we lost the last Test. We won’t take them lightly. We will try to name the best possible side against Afghanistan,” he concluded.
Afghanistan will play the one-off Test in Dhaka from June 14 to 18, after which they will leave for India. They will return to Bangladesh on July 1 to play three ODIs in Chattogram from July 5 to 11.
They will also play two T20Is in Sylhet on July 14 and 16, which will conclude the series.
Afghanistan’s cricket stars Rashid Khan and Azmatullah Omarzai have maintained their positions at the top of the latest ICC Men’s ODI rankings.
Rashid Khan remains the No. 1 ODI bowler in the world with 714 rating points.
Pakistan’s Abrar Ahmed is second with 675 points, while South Africa’s Keshav Maharaj has moved up to third with 667 points.
New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner is fourth with 644 points, followed by India’s Kuldeep Yadav on 623.
Meanwhile, Azmatullah Omarzai continues to hold the top position in the ICC ODI all-rounder rankings with 337 points, giving Afghanistan two players at No. 1 in different ODI categories. Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe and Mehidy Hasan Miraz of Bangladesh follow him in the list.
Abu Muslim Farah beat Omar Zawak Herat 4-0 in the 30th match of the sixth season of the Roshan Afghanistan Champions League, delivering an impressive performance.
The match was played today (Wednesday) at the Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium.
Samiullah Naderi scored Abu Muslim Farah’s opening goal in the final minutes of the first half.
Abu Muslim Farah continued their attacking play in the second half, with Aman Sardari scoring the team’s second goal in the 69th minute with a spectacular header.
Omid Rajabi and Mirois Ghafouri then added two more goals to complete a 4-0 victory for Abu Muslim Farah.
Amanullah Sardari, captain of Abu Muslim Farah, was named Player of the Match against Omar Zawak Herat.
Abu Muslim Farah will face Ariana Khost in their next match on October 2, while Omar Zawak Herat will take on Istiqlal Kabul on the same day.
The sixth season of the Roshan Afghanistan Champions League is being broadcast live on Ariana Television.
The Afghanistan Cricket Board’s High Performance Center is set to launch a nationwide fast-bowling talent identification program, titled “Afghan Thunder,” across several provinces throughout October.
According to the ACB, the program will begin in Kunduz on October 4, with assessments continuing in Herat, Kandahar, Kabul, Khost, Paktia and Kunar before concluding in Nangarhar on October 27.
The board says eligible participants must be between 19 and 26 years old, at least 180 centimeters tall, hold a valid electronic National ID (e-Tazkira) and be capable of bowling at speeds of at least 140 kilometers per hour.
The assessment schedule is as follows: Kunduz on October 4–5, Herat on October 9–10, Kandahar on October 12, Kabul on October 14–15, Khost on October 19, Paktia on October 21, Kunar on October 25 and Nangarhar on October 27.
The ACB has encouraged eligible players who believe they have the potential to develop into high-level fast bowlers to take part in the Afghan Thunder Fast-Bowling Talent Hunt Program on the designated dates.
The board says the initiative aims to identify promising fast-bowling talent from across Afghanistan and provide talented players with a pathway into the country’s high-performance cricket system.
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