Afghanistan beat Bangladesh to cruise into Super 4 of Asia Cup 2022

Gulf News

Mr. Cricket UAE Anis Sajan and the Gulf News Team discuss the impressive performance by Afghanistan tonight in Sharjah against Bangladesh. They were never troubled and recorded a comfortable 7 wicket win to book their spots in the Super 4 of the tournament. But, just how far can Rashid Khan and co go?  Read the full story here: https://gulfnews.com/sport/cricket/watch-afghanistan-beat-bangladesh-by-7-wickets-in-asia-cup-2022-clash-in-sharjah-1.1661861272190  See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km  Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV  #UAEnews #cricketnews #asiacup2022

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News Straight Back. The guys are back to talk about match number

00:13three of the Asia Cup. It was between Afghanistan and Bangladesh. It took place in Sharjah tonight.

00:19Now, the Afghans knew that if they win, they were going to reach the Super Four of the tournament,

00:25and they did it with these, right guys? It was a straightforward result. They won by, what,

00:28seven wickets today? Mr. Cricket, UAE, Anish Sajjan, tell us your thoughts on the match

00:33about what you've just seen. Thank you, Imran. Hi, Satish. Hello, Sahil, and hello to all the

00:38gorgeous people of Golf News. Another clinical performance by the Afghanis. First, they strangled

00:43Bangladesh and kept them below 130. And in the end, it was, what, a world-wide innings. I would

00:49say the swag of Yuvraj Singh we could see in Najibullah Zadran to take them home with 10

00:53balls to spare. Yeah. Sahil, let's ask Sahil. He's new to the channel today. Bangladesh,

01:00they won the toss. They elected to bat first. And after six overs, they were three wickets down.

01:07So clearly, I think they were thinking it was the wrong decision. Do you think they should have

01:10chased the game instead and had a ball? I mean, now we're saying that now it's easier said than

01:15now. We're saying that because they bat at first, and then they struggle in the power play. So it's

01:19easier first to say, yeah, they should have fielded first. But see, I remember when Afghanistan

01:25had played Scotland and Sharjah, Mujib came, Rashid Khan came, and he just rattled the Scotland

01:31players. So I guess both Mujib and Rashid Khan liked to play in the Sharjah Stadium. And the

01:35ball was gripping well. It was turning right, left, and center. And they got the better of

01:40the Bangladeshi batsmen in the start. Clearly, you could see the ball was turning a lot.

01:44Do you think they prefer playing there in Sharjah, or do you think they play better in Dubai,

01:49Sahil? I mean, now that they're always performing well there, I think, yeah, obviously, they'll

01:54prefer playing in Sharjah. Because the ball, it's good for them. The wicket is good for them,

01:59being Mujib, being an off spinner, Rashid being a leg spinner. So it's good for them. Obviously,

02:04they have to play in Dubai Stadium also one day. But in the end, it worked out really well for

02:08both of them. They have performed well in the past in the Sharjah Stadium, and they've done it again.

02:13Satish, let's speak to Satish. The Afghans, they saw Sri Lanka in the first match of the

02:19tournament. There were favourites to win tonight, let's be fair. We knew that they were gonna win.

02:23And they did win at Acanta. How impressed were you by them tonight? Afghanistan was perfect in

02:30their planning and their execution. Because if you look at the previous game and this game,

02:36they have been well set and they had a plan in place. That's because of two reasons. One,

02:42they were here well in advance, saw the conditions, and they prepared well for the task. And that's

02:47what skipper Mohammed Nabi once in a press conference told us that earlier they had a

02:54long break and they didn't play as a team and they came here to play as a unit. That's one.

03:00And the second most important thing is, UAE was Afghanistan's home ground for many years. So they

03:08knew the wicket inside out and it suits their bowlers especially and of course the batters.

03:15So it is like playing in home ground. The only difference is Bangladesh probably played into

03:21their hats by probably not playing the right approach, taking the right approach. They

03:26should have seen off the initial overs and then gone slowly and build their innings,

03:32which they didn't do. So I think that's where they missed their trick.

03:38Anish, we all thought that Bangladesh would put up a bit of a fight. We know they're a

03:42decent team. They've been struggling of late. They've had some bad results,

03:46but they were bowled out for 127. That's going to be a very hard score to defend.

03:50What went wrong for them? Or was it just a case of Rashid Khan and the rest of them

03:54were just too good for them? Well, if you watch the dismissals,

03:58what they gave to Mujib, they were all trying to slog him and to Rashid, it was trying to defend

04:04Rashid. So you have to give credit to the Afghani bowlers, but at the same time,

04:09not proper execution of the shots. And when you are electing to bat first,

04:13you need to have some plans. I mean, easier said than done against a good attack of Afghanistan.

04:19I'm afraid they were not up to the party.

04:24Satish, Bangladesh, they've got a new coach, Shriram. They've got a new captain,

04:28Shakib's the new captain. But so far, these two have failed to, I would say,

04:33revive their fortunes. What do these guys need to do to turn their luck around here

04:37in the UAE and also looking forward to the T20 World Cup in Australia?

04:42Yeah, you can't expect miracles overnight. You go and lose to Zimbabwe, who is not even a

04:49test-playing nation now, and Bangladesh being a test-playing nation, you can't expect miracles

04:53overnight. So I didn't expect results overnight for sure. But the two things which Bangladesh

05:00could have done as a basic is with Shakib Al-Azzam and of course, Shriram, both are

05:05very experienced campaigners and they themselves will be talking about this.

05:09One is, as Anisbhai said, and we all know that the execution of the batting was not up to the

05:13mark because they are playing against quality bowling and they literally bundled out Sri

05:20Lanka in the previous game as well. So they should have been a bit cautious. And the second and most

05:25important thing is, I think the team selection was not up to the mark because they were playing

05:31too many fast bowlers, whereas the Sharjah wicket is not for being a spin wicket. So these are some

05:36of the elementary mistakes which they made. I'm sure these sort of small things will be handled

05:43in the due course and hopefully they will rectify these small errors, which are basic elementary

05:50errors, I would say. So Satish, you think the team selection was the big error tonight?

05:56Sorry? Imran, are you broken?

05:59That's okay. You think the team selection was the big mistake tonight for them?

06:03Yes. Not even the team selection. You asked me, right, Imran or Anis?

06:08Yep. Yep. Yep. Satish, you.

06:12Yeah. Okay. So even in the team selection, if you look at Mossadegh Hussain, the offspinner,

06:18gave away six runs in two overs and he didn't bowl the next two overs and you bring the fast

06:22bowlers and bowl. Where is the logic when you know that the ball is spinning square? So you had

06:27the team. Maybe you didn't utilize it properly. I think Sakib is too good a player to not miss

06:33these tricks. But yes, they are a bit rusty and they must be lacking in confidence because of the

06:40bad performance in Zimbabwe. But I'm sure they will come back stronger is what I feel because

06:48they have the team but they have not been performing.

06:53Sahil, we know Afghanistan have a really good seam attack. We know that they've got fantastic

06:58spinners. We know that they can bat as well. Now, all the talk's been about India and Pakistan

07:03reaching the final, which most likely they're going to do. But Afghanistan are more than capable

07:08of getting there as well, aren't they? Of course. You know, actually, I had mentioned this point,

07:12you know, I can see like not before even the game they played against Sri Lanka, I had said,

07:16you know, why not Afghanistan? Why can't they make it to the finals? You know, anything can

07:20happen. I had mentioned this before they played Sri Lanka. So I mean, look, everybody would love

07:25an India-Pakistan final. Yes. You know, not only an Indian or Pakistan fan, be it another Australian

07:31English fan would also like to see. But why not see another team, an underdog like Afghanistan?

07:36They have huge amount of talent. And I'm so happy for this team. You know, being the bowling

07:41department, the batting department has also stepped up. You know, Afghanistan is known for

07:46only like high-profile spinners like Mujib and Rashid. Now, their fast bowlers have stepped up

07:50like Fazal Faruqi. So, you know, I'm really happy for this nation. They're performing well. And

07:55let's see what happens. You know, I hope they come in a final. It'll be fun.

08:00Sahil, also, you predicted that the two Zadrans will be the match winners tonight.

08:04And both of them were. One of them got 42. The other one got, what, 43, I think.

08:09But do you think these guys can perform that well if they play against India or Pakistan,

08:15possibly, in the final? I mean, look, they'll play against Bangladesh. That's not

08:19the hardest team to play against. Of course, why not? Of course, they can perform. I remember

08:23Najibullah's innings against New Zealand in the World Cup, which happened recently in 2021.

08:28He was outstanding against the high-profile bowlers like Bolt,

08:31Saudi. You know, he's a fantastic player. And I had predicted, like, before, like, he will win

08:35the game for Afghanistan. And he did. Why not? Of course, he can perform well against Pakistan,

08:41India. These guys are good batsmen. And let's see what happens now. Both Zadrans played well.

08:46Credit to them, really. Anish, the Afghan openers, they started their innings quite slowly.

08:52You know, they took some time to get going. And then they lost Gurbaz. He was stumped.

08:56There was a small chance there for Bangladesh to get back into the game.

09:00What should they have done to keep the pressure on?

09:03Before I answer that, you know, I should say to my son on air that he should stop now following

09:08football and start predicting on cricket. Because his predictions are more or less better than all

09:13of us. By the way, you mentioned about Gurbaz. You know, this was not that Dubai wicket where

09:19he could go after. And Shakib is a smart, wily fox. He just foxed him. And it was, to be very honest,

09:26as like we all mentioned, in six overs, it requires 66. But then came the other Zadran. One Zadran

09:31was holding Forte. This is the point I want to add. This is what an innings of Virat Kohli was

09:37playing, what he used to play in the past. You hold one end and you looked in complete control.

09:41And the other guy, who are the X-Factor, like the Najibul Zadran, they have a couple of more

09:46hitters in the backhand. So if one doesn't come, the other might come up. But it was both Zadrans

09:51show today. And in the end, if you see, they won it with 10 balls to spare. And like Satish mentioned,

09:57the fast bowlers went for too many for Bangladesh.

10:00Yeah, I think we all had a feeling that Afghanistan were going to win.

10:03They were the favourites. They looked really good against Sri Lanka. Bangladesh,

10:07unfortunately for them, it's a defeat. Let's move on. Let's have a quick chat about tomorrow's game,

10:12which sees India play against Hong Kong. Now, Anish, this should be a pretty straightforward

10:18win for India, shouldn't it? I would never say that in a T20 format. You know what? Earlier,

10:23there was that biasness towards India, that no India is going to walk through. And I remember

10:28at the same ground in Dubai, Hong Kong were very handful in a 50-0 game. In a T20, anything can

10:33happen. Yes, India definitely 70-80 per cent favourites. But one man can take the game away

10:39and India has to safeguard against them. And especially if they're batting first,

10:44they put up a low score. Chasing 160-150 wouldn't be difficult. But having said that,

10:48India are going to the game as favourites. Now, Sahil, same question to you. Do you think

10:53Hong Kong have any chance at all now? But before you answer that one,

10:57OK, before you answer that one, didn't little Brentford thrash Man United 4-0 recently?

11:04Meaning there's always a chance, right, for the small team.

11:07Yes, there is always a chance. But this is cricket we're talking about.

11:13We didn't know that.

11:15But if you're asking, I mean, look, it's a T20 game. You know, one guy,

11:19you know, if you score 150, it's not tough to chase down. And they're playing in Dubai.

11:24Yes, the Dubai wicket was tough when India-Pakistan played. But obviously, India should

11:29win. Ninety-nine per cent India should win. I'll give that one per cent to Hong Kong. But

11:33it's a good thing that Hong Kong are getting another experience to play against India.

11:37So they should just enjoy it. Hong Kong should just enjoy that experience playing with these

11:40high-profile players. OK, and lastly to Satish. You know, Satish, if the extraordinary does happen

11:47tomorrow and Hong Kong somehow do win, where would that rank in terms of the biggest shock

11:52results in cricket? I think this is probably

12:00shocking than Zimbabwe beating India in the 1983 World Cup, maybe if they had beaten,

12:06like they came close. So it can be that. Even that could have been possible. I think this is

12:11not so much possible, because Zimbabwe in those days had a very good team.

12:16So when Kapil Dev's knock has saved India,

12:23literally looking at a miracle. But don't count the Hong Kong crowd, because they came through

12:28the qualifiers and they have beaten some good teams like UAE and Kuwait and Singapore. So

12:34they are good and confident. I'm not underestimating them. But there is a good

12:39gap between the associate nation and the test-playing nation. And India is not one of

12:45those nations where they are on the fringes of the test-playing nation. They are on the top

12:49of the world chart. So I'm sure there is very little complacency even India would show. But

12:57yeah, I think it'd be a good experience for Hong Kong, because obviously they are coming back into

13:02the big stage after a while. They have been missing some of the top tournaments of late.

13:09And then this is a big stage for them and for their young team. OK, guys, I think we'll leave

13:15it there. We'll see how India get on tomorrow night. In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com

13:20for all the latest news, reviews, comments, videos and much more. Thanks to the guys and good night.

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