Afghanistan vs Bangladesh 1st T20I Match Preview: Can Afghanistan Make a Comeback After Asia Cup Setback?

After sustaining a brief setback in the Asia Cup 2025, Afghanistan is now preparing to make a strong comeback against Bangladesh in the T20I series. The recently concluded tournament gave a reality check to the Afghanistan team. They were relying on many young stars to perform well in the tournament. However, due to batting failures in successive matches, Afghanistan faced a very early elimination from the tournament.

Now, they will come back with a renewed hunger to correct those mistakes. It is important for them to improve those areas that made things difficult for them during the tournament. Not just batting, Afghanistan faced serious issues in the bowling department as well. It was earlier expected that Afghanistan's spin attack would dominate the tournament, however, the reality came out completely different.

Speaking about Bangladesh, they had a decent Asia Cup in terms of performance. Though they couldn’t progress to the finals, their performance in the Super Four stage was satisfactory. They defeated Sri Lanka in a Super Four clash and had a close game with Pakistan as well. However, now, the tigers need to shift their focus. They will come against Afghanistan in a new series happening at Sharjah. The Afghan team is still a very dangerous opponent, especially in T20Is due to their spin attack.

The first match of the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh T20I series will give us an idea how both teams could shape their plans. Let’s take a look at the squads of both teams, as that will let us know how they will make batting and bowling combinations for the first T20I at Sharjah.

Afghanistan T20I Squad Analysis for First Match

Afghanistan will need to do a lot of thinking to build a formidable XI for the opening clash against Bangladesh. They would like to not repeat the same mistakes again, as Bangladesh will come prepared to take down the spin challenge of Rashid Khan and other bowlers. In the Asia Cup, Afghanistan had a close game with Bangladesh in the first round. They made plenty of mistakes in the bowling that cost them the match with Bangladesh.

Now, Afghanistan will need to make plans according to the batting lineup of Bangladesh. In the last Asia Cup group match, Tanzid Hasan took down the Afghanistan bowlers quite furiously in the Powerplay. This is something Afghanistan will need to look at while selecting the Playing XI for the first T20I. They don’t have Farooqi in the squad, hence, bowling responsibility in the Powerplay could be given to Fareed Ahmad Malik or Mujeeb Ur Rahman respectively.

Bangladesh T20I Squad Analysis for First Match

Bangladesh have a well-set squad for this series. They have sorted their opening combination by making Tanzid Hasan and Saif Hassan as regular openers. Both of these batters performed well for the tigers in the Asia Cup. Tanzid was specifically good in the match against Afghanistan, as he made a remarkable 52 off just 31 balls by smashing 4 fours and 3 sixes.

The question for Bangladesh will arise in the middle order. It has been noted that the batters at 4th and 5th position have struggled against spin in the recent Asia Cup matches. They could once again face similar difficulties, as Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman can come hard at them during the middle overs. Bangladesh will need to pick batters keeping this threat in view, as it can change the game for them very quickly.

Possible XI of Afghanistan for 1st T20I

1 Ibrahim Zadran, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz, 3 Sediqullah Atal, 4 Darwish Rasooli, 5 Azmatullah Omarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Noor Ahmad, 9 Mujeeb Ur Rahman, 10 Fareed Ahmad Malik, 11 Abdullah Ahmadzai

Possible XI of Bangladesh for 1st T20I

1 Saif Hassan, 2 Tanzid Hasan, 3 Towhid Hridoy, 4 Shamim Hossain, 5 Jaker Ali, 6 Nurul Hasan, 7 Mahedi Hasan, 8 Rishad Hossain, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Tanzim Hasan Sakib, 11 Mustafizur Rahman

Match Prediction

Spinners can play a major role in the match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh at Sharjah. If we go by the stats, Afghanistan has a more loaded lineup of spinners, so they can make a strong impact in the game. However, if Bangladesh manages to play the Powerplay well, the pressure will shift to the Afghanistan bowlers. Therefore, it will be interesting to see how both teams play in the Powerplay, as winning it could give either side a strong chance of winning the game.