Bangladesh will play two T20 matches in the going series against Afghanistan. Both of these T20 matches will take place in the Sylhet International Stadium on July 14 and 16. Both matches will start at 6 pm. Before the T20 matches, the two teams will play a three-match ODI series in Chattogram. Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the T20 team on Sunday (June 18, 2023), the day after announcing the ODI team. Let's take a look at the T20 team of Bangladesh in the upcoming series.
Bangladesh T20 Squad to Play Against Afghanistan
Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Litton Das, Rony Talukdar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Rishad Hossain, Afif Hossain.
Analysis of Bangladesh T20 Team for the BAN VS AFG Series 2023
Last March, Bangladesh played a three-match T20 series with Ireland in Chattogram, in which Shakib’s team won by 2-1. The selectors kept the team almost unchanged in that series. Rony Talukdar was left out of the squad for the ODI series against Afghanistan but retained his place in the T20I.
Bangladesh has added Afif Hossain and Ebadot Hossain to the T20 team for the upcoming two-match series against Afghanistan. However, Jaker Ali, who was part of the squad for the series against Ireland in March, did not make it into the team this time. Ebadot can add great strength to the Bangladesh team.
Read more: BAN vs AFG Series 2023: Bangladesh ODI Squad Analysis
Afif Hossain, who is also included in the ODI squad, last played in T20 matches against England in March. In his 62 T20I appearances, he scored a total of 1020 runs at a strike rate of 120.28. In contrast, Ebadot Hossain did not participate in the T20 matches against England or Ireland. His most recent T20 game was during the T20 World Cup in November last year. He started playing T20 matches during the Asia Cup in 2022 and has taken seven wickets in four T20I matches so far. Recently, in the one-off Test against Afghanistan earlier this week, he performed well by taking four wickets for 47 runs.
Bangladesh has included five pacers in the T20 team so that pacers can be altered if needed. That is why Ebadot is included in the team. It also seems that he will be effective in T20.
Key Players in Bangladesh Squad for the 2023 BAN vs AFG T20 Matches
Najmul Hossain Shanto
Although Shanto couldn’t do well in the last T20 series against Ireland, he did incredibly well in the T20 series between Bangladesh and England. He scored a total of 144 runs and had a huge impact on the games, with an impact score of 153.2 over the three matches. He showed his amazing skills in cricket and had an average impact of 51 per match.
Apart from the last T20 series, Shanto has been very aggressive in other formats, which we have seen in a recently ended Test match against the Afghans. So, it can be expected that the player will surely give his best in the T20 matches.
Read more: Najmul Hossain Shanto: A Rising Star in Bangladeshi Cricket
Rony Talukdar
Rony has played only seven T20 matches for Bangladesh, and he played six matches this year and proved himself as an impactful player. In his 7 matches, Rony scored 200 runs in total with a highest score of 67 and 139.86 strike rate. This indicates that he was able to score runs at a good pace. Overall, Rony showed his skills and contributed significantly to the team’s success in the last six T20 matches.
Litton Das
Litton’s performance was incredible in the last T20 series against the Irish. He scored 136 runs in three matches, with 83 runs in the second match. Litton was so aggressive that he broke the record of scoring 50 from 20 balls made by Mohammad Ashraful 16 years ago and reached 50 in 18 balls. He has played in a total of 71 matches and scored a remarkable 1617 runs, with 83 being his highest score. Litton’s strike rate is 132.43, which means he is a hard hitter and can score quickly. Considering his last performance, it can be said that Litton will surely spark in any of the two matches.
Shakib Al Hasan
Shakib Al Hasan, the captain of the team, played a crucial role in Bangladesh’s clean sweep against England. His strategy and plans were impressive, and many people admire his cricket knowledge. Shakib showed excellent decision-making and stayed calm throughout the series against England. He was particularly skilled at managing his bowlers, making sure they performed well.
Later he was also impressive in the Ireland series. In the second match, Shakib performed amazingly by taking 5 wickets and giving away only 22 runs in just 4 overs. This is the second time he has taken 5 wickets in a T20 match, and it’s one of his best bowling performances. With those five wickets, Shakib now holds the record for the most wickets in international T20 cricket. Throughout his career, he has taken a total of 136 wickets in 114 T20 matches. So, we can expect to see his excellent leadership and performance again when Bangladesh plays against Afghanistan.
Read more: Key Performers in BAN vs AFG Test 2023
Final Words
Unlike the previous T20 series, the selectors of Bangladesh squad did not keep an extra wicket-keeper batsman in the series against Afghanistan in order to keep extra pacers. We have to wait until July 16 to see if these tactics work out or not. However, this 15-member squad for the 2023 BAN vs AFG T20 series is considered to be the full strength.