Rashid is the No.1 bowler, he is a threat to us: Shakib Al Hasan

The Afghanistan team is in India and so is Bangladesh, before the newly accepted Full Member nation makes its Test debut against the home team they will play a three-match T20I series against the Bangladeshis. Shakib Al Hasan’s men will not find it easy to deal with Asghar Stanikzai and his vibrant bunch. At this point in time, the Afghans hold a better position in the ICC T20I rankings and will want to win this series and take the momentum into the Test match.

One man that the Bangladeshi batsmen certainly need to be wary of is leg-spinner, Rashid Khan. He has been in India for the last couple of months, has played around the country in different conditions and under immense pressure. He knows a lot more about the conditions than anyone else involved in the contest. At the same time, Rashid is the top-ranked bowlers in T20I cricket with 759 points.

Rashid a threat

Bangladesh captain Shakib who plays alongside Rashid for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) praised his effort. He said that the ranking reflects the fact that Rashid is the best bowler in the world at the moment in this format. He admitted that the leggie will be a threat for them but not more than anyone else in the Afghan team.

“His ranking shows how good a bowler he is. He is the No.1 bowler. So obviously, he will be a threat to us with the current form he is in. Same goes for all other bowlers in their team. Both teams need to play up to their potential to win. We will try our best to do well in batting, bowling and fielding,” Shakib said as quoted by BDcrictime.

The series will be played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun and will be international debut for the venue. Shakib is excited about the first match and doesn’t think the conditions will really matter as it is more or less the same in the sub-continent.

“The ground looks good. We are looking forward for tomorrow’s match. It’s little bit low and slow but there are so many grounds like these in sub-continent which we are used to,” the all-rounder said.

Bangladesh will have to buck up ahead of the match as they lost the practice game to Afghanistan A side by 8 wickets and certainly need to play a lot better to go one up in the series.

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