Bangladesh’s win over Afghanistan a ‘real upset’, says Aakash Chopra

Afghanistan have emerged as the surprise contenders in the race to semifinal in the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup.

The Afghans are currently fifth in the 10-team table with wins over England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Netherlands.

The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side have already punched above their weight in the competition and would consider this campaign as a resounding success, whether they finish in the top four or not.

However, former India cricketer and current commentator and analyst Aakash Chopra feels that the giant killers of this tournament themselves were on the receiving end of an 'upset' when they lost to Bangladesh in Dharamshala.

"The real upset of this #CWC23 was Afghanistan losing to Bangladesh…that turns out to be the only win for B'desh in the tournament. If Afghanistan started the tournament strongly, they would've been sitting pretty in the top-4 tonight," Aakash posted on X after Afghanistan defeated the Dutch by seven wickets on Friday.

Bangladesh defeated Afghanistan in both side's opening match in the World Cup.

In that game, the Tigers overwhelmed the Afghans, bundling them out for a mere 156 and then chasing it down with six wickets to spare.

But since then, the World Cup campaigns of both teams have gone in completely opposite directions.

While Afghanistan are still contending for a spot in the semifinal with two matches to go, Bangladesh have lost six matches in a row and are languishing at the ninth spot in the 10-team competition.