Tuesday’s third match of the Asia Cup 2022 saw Afghanistan put in another polished performance to thrash Shakib Al Hasan-led Bangladesh by seven wickets in Sharjah (August 30). Surprisingly, Bangladesh choose to bat first after winning the toss.
Shakib spoke about his choice and said, “Putting the runs on the board would hopefully be difficult for Afghanistan to chase.”
However, Bangladesh struggled to score enough runs against the spin pair of Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/16) and Rashid Khan (3/22). With Mosaddek Hossain’s heroic 48*, they only managed 127 for 7 in their 20 overs, which could have been worse.
Afghanistan simply needed 18.3 overs to reach their goal. The opposition was whittled down by Bangladesh to 62 for 3. Najibullah Zadran (43* off 17) and Ibrahim Zadran (42* off 41) played contrasting knocks, though, that helped Afghanistan win decisively.
Twitter users criticised Shakib, who was playing in his 100th T20I, after the lopsided loss. Even though the game was losing, cricket fans questioned the Bangladesh captain’s choice to bat first and his tactic to contain Hossain.
Shakib (1/13) was thought to have ended his own bowling period considerably too soon by some people as well. Following are some Twitter responses to the Bangladeshi all-subpar rounder’s leadership:
Meezan 
Harsh