‘We are ready for any kind of challenge’

The Tamim Iqbal retirement and return saga, which unfolded over the past 48 hours or so, may have been the centre of attention in the country, but may provide an opportunity for Afghanistan to seal the three-match series against a rather distracted hosts in the second ODI at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today.

Bangladesh lost the first ODI by 17 runs (DLS method) in a rain-affected game that saw the home side's batters fail to tackle the Afghan spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi or contend with pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Afghan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi believed his side's morale was high after the win and said they would be looking to cash in on that momentum.

"Playing in Bangladesh against Bangladesh is not easy. But we won the first game so morale is high and everyone in the dressing room is confident and looking forward to the rest of the series. Yes, of course (we want to seal the series tomorrow). Tomorrow is a big chance for us to take the series 2-0. As I said, morale is high. I know they will come hard at us, but we are ready for any kind of challenge tomorrow (Saturday). We will try to give our best and win the series tomorrow (Saturday)," a confident Shahidi told the media yesterday.

Bangladesh will be without Tamim for the series and the hosts will certainly miss the experience of the left-hander, which Shahidi opined would give his team an advantage.

"Yeah, definitely. He (Tamim) was one of the top players for Bangladesh. He did well in the past and is an experienced guy and has been captain for a long time in this format. So, it will be a good advantage for us. Looking forward to tomorrow's game, we will try our best."

There was a lot of talk about the variable bounce of the pitch in the first ODI, which caused the batters to struggle, especially against spinners. But the Afghan captain was not bothered by such factors.

"The wicket is the same for both teams. Both teams play on the same wicket. At the end of the day, you have to play good cricket. The team that plays good cricket, the result will go their way. We don't think too much about these things. It's not in our hands. What we have in our hands is to play good cricket so that's what we will do tomorrow."