Cricket News, Asia Cup 1st Match 2022: Sri Lanka will face a motivated Afghanistan In the opening match - Catch All LIVE action
On Saturday, Dasun Shanaka's Sri Lanka faces Mohammad Nabi's Afghanistan in the Dubai International Stadium
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Rashid Khan will be the game changer for Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2022As the game's newest format, T20 Internationals have only been played twice between these two countries, with Sri Lanka thumping Afghanistan in their inaugural match at the 2016 T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan has significantly improved over the last six years and is still very capable of surprising the best teams in the world. Both teams are in the Asia Cup's Group B, which also includes Bangladesh. The top two teams will advance to the tournament's Super Four stage.
Afghanistan will rely on Rashid Khan's spin bowling. Their batting will hope to perform well in the shortest format, with Jonathan Trott taking over as coach. In addition, the hitters have improved over previous tours to Zimbabwe and Ireland.
Despite the fact that they arrived after losing the series against Ireland, it was a closely fought one, and they fought back admirably after losing the first two games.
Sri Lanka, on the other side, has the second-best Asia Cup record after India, with five trophies. However, they are certainly not the tournament's favourites or second choices. They lost their last T20 match 1-2 to Australia and are now forced to play without their star pacer Chameera Dushmantha.
Their bowling has occasionally been fearless, and their hitting has occasionally been excellent. Dinesh Chandimal's come back to the format will undoubtedly help their team. For the islanders, Bhanuka Rajapaksa's performance for Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League will also be beneficial.
The crisis-torn country has been through a lot recently, and as skipper Dasun Shanuka has stated, a strong showing at the Asia Cup will be the most exciting thing for them. To start off against Afghanistan with a victory will be the greatest way to provide some hope.
Predicted Playing XIs:
Sri Lanka: Dasun Shanaka (C), Danushka Gunathilaka, Pathum Nissanka, Charith Asalanka, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Kusal Mendis (WK), Wanindu Hasaranga, Chamika Karunaratne, Jeffrey Wandersay, Maheesh Theekshana and M Pathirana.
Afghanistan: Mohammad Nabi (C), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Ibrahim Zadran, Noor Ahmad, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazal Farooqi, Naveen-Ul-Haq.