The wait for Bangladesh cricket fans to see their team play in the Asia Cup 2022 will finally be over on Tuesday. The Bangladesh national men’s T20 cricket team will take on Afghanistan in their opening fixture on August 30 at the Sharjah Cricket Ground. The match will start at 8 p.m. (Bangladesh Standard Time). The Bangladesh team needs a suitable strategy which could help them dominate Afghanistan during the contest. Power hitting is one of the areas where the Tigers need to give special attention. India’s Hardik Pandya impressed everyone with his match-winning, aggressive knock against Pakistan. He was also lauded for staying calm at the crease while chasing the target. Someone from the Bangladesh squad will have to do a similar kind of role like Pandya does for India. Let’s take a look at which Bangladeshi players have power-hitting potential in the death overs. What is Hardik Pandya’s role in India’s Twenty20 team? The 28-year-old Indian all-rounder, Hardik Pandya, made his international debut in the Twenty20 format against Australia in 2016. Hardik was initially considered the next Kapil Dev of Indian cricket because of his ability both with the bat and ball. Over the years, he has made a name for himself by delivering match-winning performances for team India. Pandya is now one of the valuable members of India’s limited-overs side. Read Asia Cup 2022: 5 striking performers in India vs Pakistan match Hardik Pandya is a medium pacer and a hard-hitting batter. He has 133 wickets and 2,785 runs in 145 matches for the Indian national team. Pandya is used as a fourth or fifth bowler and his batting position is usually either no. 6 or no. 7. Hardik always tries to provide important breakthroughs and is economical with the ball. In batting, his current role is to finish the game while chasing and accelerate the run rate in the death overs if he bats first. The right-hander has become one of the most trusted cricketers when it comes to power hitting in the final few overs of an innings. Pandya’s recent T20I stats speak for themselves. He has featured in 25 Twenty20 International matches since January 2021 and helped India win 17 of them. In winning matches, Pandya’s combined strike rate was more than 150, which indicates how effective a batter he has become for India. Besides, he has been the most successful middle-order batter for team India since 2021. Read Asia Cup 2022: 8 milestones within sight of Bangladesh players Since January 1, 2021, the top three most successful middle-order batters for India in the T20 format Player Innings Runs HS Ave SR 50+ 6s Hardik Pandya 21 479 51 31.93 142.55 1 23 Rishabh Pant 20 419 52* 27.93 127.35 1 13 Suryakumar Yadav 12 379 117 37.90 181.33 3 21    Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Bangladeshi players who have potentials to bat like Hardik Pandya Bangladesh cricketers’ records haven’t been that impressive in comparison to the players of big cricketing nations. However, they have very good T20 records at domestic level. The players need to focus more and improve their technical ability in order to improve their performance on the international stage for the Bangladesh national side. Read Asia Cup 2022: How Bangladesh can defeat a confident Afghanistan team The Bangladesh players who bat between five and eight positions will have to play a similar kind of role to India’s Hardik Pandya. The players who can bat in the middle order are: Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mahedi Hasan, and Mohammad Saifuddin. Except for Sabbir Rahman, the rest of the four players have regularly played for the Tigers national Twenty20 side in recent series. Sabbir was called back after a three-year absence. Let’s see their performances in T20I cricket.  Mohammad Saifuddin Saifuddin has a similar kind of cricketing profile to Hardik Pandya. If the left-hander gets a chance in the playing XI, he will bat at no.8. However, Saifuddin is yet to reach the level of Pandya in batting. Mushfiqur Rahim The veteran batter, Mushfiqur is expected to bat at No.4. According to reports, he may even open the innings for Bangladesh. Mushfiqur’s role will be to strengthen the middle-order, not to play a specific hard-hitting role. Read Asia Cup 2022: Live streaming TV channels, online platforms to watch from Bangladesh Mahmudullah Riyad Mahmudullah Riyad is the most experienced cricketer among them. But Riyad’s recent international performances haven’t been up to the mark. His overall strike rate has dropped since last year. Mahedi Hasan Another potential player could be Mahedi Hasan. The right-handed, aggressive-minded batter has found a place in the Bangladesh T20 squad by showing impressive performances in the BPL tournaments. However, Mahedi is yet to fulfill his true potential for the national side. Sabbir Rahman Sabbir has a decent T20I record and could be an ideal candidate for the power-hitting duties. He has a better average and strike rate than the other two. Sabbir has also hit more T20I sixes than Afif and Mosaddek. One major worry regarding Sabbir could be his absence from international cricket for three long years. Making a comeback and immediately starting to perform is quite difficult. If Sabbir gets a chance to play at his full potential, he could be a real trump card for Bangladesh. Read Asia Cup Cricket 2022: Meet the captains of 6 participating teams Afif Hossain Afif gets the vice-captaincy role for the Bangladesh T20I side, which indicates how highly the BCB has valued his potential. The left-handed batter has shown that he is very much capable of accelerating the run rate. With time, he could get even better. The possibility of promoting Afif in the batting order is unlikely in this tournament. Therefore, he may be seen to play at either the no.5 or no.6 position. Mosaddek Hossain Mosaddek is very much capable of smashing the ball out of the ground. Surprisingly, he has only seven sixes in 19 T20I innings. However, the right-handed batter has the potential to become successful in the power-hitting role if he plays with the proper mindset and feels confident in his ability. Since January 1, 2021, the top three most successful middle-order batters for Bangladesh in the T20 format Player Innings Runs HS Ave SR 50+ 6s Afif Hossain 33 585 50 21.66 117.46 1 21 Mahmudullah Riyad 31 580 52 22.30 106.03 2 15 Nurul Hasan 22 235 42* 13.82 114.63 0 10    Source: https://www.espncricinfo.com/ Read Asia Cup Cricket: A look back at Bangladesh’s 5 memorable victories Bottom Line India’s Hardik Pandya is arguably the best power hitter in the lower middle order from Asia. He has the ability to win a match on his own through his swashbuckling batting effort in the death overs. The Bangladesh Twenty20 cricket team has very limited options to do a job like Pandya in the ongoing Asia Cup 2022. Sabbir Rahman, Afif Hossain and Mosaddek Hossain are probably the three Bangladesh players who have the potential to bat like Hardik Pandya. Will they, or anyone from the middle-order, be able to fulfill the expectation of power-hitting in this tournament? The Bangladesh campaign is hoping that someone will carry the responsibility and will make an invaluable impact on the team.

Bangladesh will host Afghanistan for a three-match One-Day International series, followed by a two-match Twenty20 International series starting from February 23, (Wednesday). The hosts have to win both series in order to keep their momentum on the international stage. As a result, the Bangladesh team will put up their best effort in an attempt to win both series. Besides, players can reach several personal landmarks during the series. The milestones that Bangladesh cricketers can achieve in the BAN vs AFG 2022 series are discussed in this article. Bangladesh vs Afghanistan Series 2022: Reachable Milestones for Bangladesh Cricketers  All of Bangladesh's senior players, Mahmudullah Riyad, Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mushfiqur Rahim are on the verge of attaining personal milestones. Aside from them, a few other players have a chance to attain an individual landmark. Let's take a look at some of the milestones that Bangladeshi players may accomplish during the upcoming BAN vs AFG 2022 series. 50 ODI Appearances Liton Das has appeared in 47 One-Day Internationals for Bangladesh, and he just has to play three more to reach 50. Read NZ vs SA 2022: New Zealand Thrash South Africa in the First Test 2000 T20I Runs Bangladesh's T20I skipper, Mahmudullah Riyad, and ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan are on the verge of amassing 2000 runs in Twenty20 Internationals cricket. Mahmudullah has 1,971 runs in 105 innings and just has to score 29 more runs to reach the 2000-run mark. On the other hand, Shakib Al Hasan needs 106 runs to get 2000 T20I runs. Shakib has scored 1,894 runs in 93 T20I innings for Bangladesh. 1000 T20I Runs Liton Das has 844 runs in 45 innings and needs 156 more runs to reach 1,000 T20I runs for Bangladesh. 100 T20I Appearances Mushfiqur Rahim has played in 99 Twenty20 Internationals for Bangladesh, and he only needs one more to achieve the century mark. Read Best Individual Performers of BPL 2022 13000 International Runs Mushfiqur Rahim just needs 81 more runs to surpass the 13,000-run landmark for Bangladesh. He has a total of 12,919 runs in 447 international innings for Bangladesh. 4000 International Runs Liton Das needs 172 runs to reach 4,000 runs in international cricket for Bangladesh. Liton has 3,828 runs in 141 innings on the international level. 1000 International Runs Promising top-order batter, Najmul Hossain Shanto has 882 runs in 39 innings for Bangladesh across all formats. Najmul just needs 118 runs to get 1000 international runs. Read BPL 2022 Final: Five Reasons Behind Comilla Victorians’ Third Title Victory 250 International Wickets Left-arm medium-pacer Mustafizur Rahman is just seven wickets away from completing his 250th international wicket for Bangladesh. Mustafizur has 243 international wickets in 143 appearances for Bangladesh. 100 International Catches Both Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal are on the verge of grabbing 100 catches for Bangladesh. Shakib has 99 catches and only needs one more to reach 100. On the other hand, Tamim has 97 catches and needs three more to achieve the 100-catch mark. 50 International Catches Bangladesh's Liton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz are on their way to capturing 50 catches. Liton simply needs one catch, while Miraz requires two to reach the 50-catch milestone on the international stage. Read BAN vs AFG 2022: Momentous ODI records between Bangladesh and Afghanistan 150 International Catches Bangladesh's T20I captain, Mahmudullah Riyad needs two more catches to reach the 150-catch landmark on the international arena. Aftermath All of Bangladesh's major players are available for the bilateral home series against Afghanistan. Therefore, everyone is expecting Bangladesh to whitewash Afghanistan in both the limited-overs series. On the other side, some of the Bangladesh players have a chance to achieve multiple personal milestones during the contest if they find their best form in the contest. That is why Bangladesh's forthcoming BAN vs AFG 2022 series is anticipated to be exciting. Read AUS vs SL 2022: Australia Win T20I Series with Two Games to Spare