Afghanistan opt to bat; Bangladesh bring in Nasum Ahmed
Afghanistan have picked Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmed and Mohammad Ishaq in the XI, replacing Karim Janat and Fazalhaq Farooq
Mohammad Isam
02-Oct-2025 • 2 hrs ago
Jaker Ali will captain Bangladesh in the absence of Litton Das • AFP/Getty Images
Afghanistan opt to bat vs Bangladesh
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan decided to bat first after winning the toss against Bangladesh in the first T20I in Sharjah on Thursday.
They have picked Sharafuddin Ashraf, Fareed Ahmed and Mohammad Ishaq in the XI, replacing Karim Janat and Fazalhaq Farooqi, who have been dropped from the T20I squad after the Asia Cup. Mujeeb Ur Rahman was also not in the XI.
Bangladesh meanwhile strengthened their bowling unit, bringing in left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed. They left out Towhid Hridoy, while Soumya Sarkar hasn't arrived in the UAE as he is yet to receive his visa.
Afghanistan: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Ibrahim Zadran, 3 Sediqullah Atal, Darwish Rasooli, 5 Azmatullah Omarzai, 6 Mohammad Nabi, 7 Rashid Khan (capt), 8 Sharafuddin Ashraf, 9 Noor Ahmad, 10 Fareed Ahmed, 11 Mohammad Ishaq
Bangladesh: 1 Saif Hassan, 2 Tanzid Hasan, 3 Parvez Hossain Emon, 4 Nurul Hasan, 5 Jaker Ali (capt, wk), 6 Shamim Hossain, 7 Rishad Hossain, 8 Tanzim Hasan, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Nasum Ahmed, 11 Mustafizur Rahman
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84