LAHORE: Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and opted to bat against Afghanistan in the group stage match of Asia Cup 2023 here in Lahore on Sunday.
Bangladesh are coming off a loss in their opening game against Sri Lanka by five wickets.Afghanistan will feature in their tournament opener and will eye a winning start to their campaign.
Bangladesh skipper said after winning the toss, “We will bat first. It looks a good wicket and keeping the weather in mind, it is very hot. We have three changes. We didn’t execute with the bat and that was our downfall, but today is a new day and a good wicket, hopefully we put up a good score on the board.”
Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said, “We would have batted first as well. Quite excited, we have a lot of crowd and supporters here. The preparation was quite good, we had a series against Pakistan and we have been here for the last one week.”
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Mohammad Naim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan(c), Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman. (ANI)