Sabbir Hossain :Inspired Bangladesh will take on Afghanistan today (Sunday) in their opening Group A match of the qualifying round of the ICC World Twenty20 Cricket at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur. The match starts at 3.30 pm BST (Bangladesh Standard Time). State-owned television Bangladesh Television, private satellite channels Maasranga Television and GTV will telecast the match live from the stadium.Earlier, Bangladesh defeated United Arab Emirates by four wickets in their first World Twenty20 warm-up match on March 12 and then beat Ireland by 44 runs in their second World Twenty20 warm-up match on March 14.After the practice session at Mirpur on Saturday, Captain of Bangladesh team Mushfiqur Rahim said, “We didn’t get any success in Asia Cup though we played well. But in the warm-up matches, we got success though our starting was not good. We have progressed our batting, bowling and fielding. The players are in the game. So, we want to keep our consistency. Twenty20 format is a shorter version cricket competition. We shall play every match for win. Our target is to be champions in our group.”Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said, “Bangladesh are in a better position in Twenty20 Cricket than us. Though Bangladesh registered more wins than us but we have better skill than our opponents . We are confident that we shall perform better than them.” Emirates by four wickets in their first World Twenty20 warm-up match on March 12 and then beat Ireland by 44 runs in their second World Twenty20 warm-up match on March 14.After the practice session at Mirpur on Saturday, Captain of Bangladesh team Mushfiqur Rahim said, “We didn’t get any success in Asia Cup though we played well. But in the warm-up matches, we got success though our starting was not good. We have progressed our batting, bowling and fielding. The players are in the game. So, we want to keep our consistency. Twenty20 format is a shorter version cricket competition. We shall play every match for win. Our target is to be champions in our group.” Afghanistan captain Mohammad Nabi said, “Bangladesh are in a better position in Twenty20 Cricket than us. Though Bangladesh registered more wins than us but we have better skill than our opponents . We are confident that we shall perform better than them.”Meanwhile, Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium is prepared to stage the upcoming high-voltage match between hosts Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The Mirpur wicket will cater to the demand of the organisers. There will be a flat, batting-friendly surface with short boundaries on at least one side, depending on which wicket is used for the tournament opener. By the time the match starts, the weather will cool down, according to the forecast for Sunday.Squads:Bangladesh (possible) : Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain & Wicketkeeper), Mominul Haque/Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, Farhad Reza/Sohag Gazi, Mashrafe Mortaza/Al-Amin Hossain, Abdur Razzak, Rubel Hossain. Afghanistan (possible): Mohammad Shahzad (Wicketkeeper), Nawroz Mangal, Karim Sadiq, Shafiqullah, Mohammad Nabi (Captain), Najibullah Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Samiullah Shenwari, Dawlat Zadran, Shappoor Zadran, Hamza Hotak.
