Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan won the toss and chose to bat first as the Tigers begin their Asia Cup campaign against Afghanistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE today.

Bangladesh T20I captain Shakib Al Hasan is going to play his 100th T20I match when the Tigers face Afghanistan in their Asia Cup opener in Sharjah tonight.

Bangladesh batsman Mushfiqur Rahim is known as ‘Mr. Dependable’ for his cool and collective approach to batting in the middle-order. It has been his ability to keep the scoring-rate ticking in the middle overs with soft hands and patient technique that has seen Bangladesh through on many challenging situations.

With his appetite for wickets and hard-hitting batting, Hardik Pandya has come back from controversies and injuries to become India's go-to all-rounder ahead of this year's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

Bangladesh will begin their Asia Cup campaign when they take on Afghanistan at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today.

All eyes will be on Bangladesh Test and T20I skipper Shakib Al Hasan and Afghanistan's master leg-spinner Rashid Khan as the two sides face each other in tonight's Asia Cup encounter at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. 

Bangladesh cricket team’s newly hired technical consultant, Sridharan Sriram, is not bothered about pacer Mustafizur Rahman’s away form of late.  

As Bangladesh are set to take on Afghanistan in their opening game of the Asia Cup today, let's take a look at some interesting facts ahead of the contest:

Both India and Pakistan were fined for slow over rates during the Asia Cup 2022 game in Dubai on Saturday. Both teams failed to complete their overs in the stipulated time and were forced to field an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle.

Bangladesh went to the UAE for the Asia Cup following a lot of chaos and drama and with a number of unresolved issues.

Clarity of purpose is a small subject when it comes to Bangladesh cricket, but when it comes to showing that clarity, the Tigers have been found wanting in the recent past. Newly-appointed technical consultant Sridharan Sriram was appointed to change Bangladesh’s T20 approach and way of thinking and even as a big match against Afghanistan in the 2022 Asia Cup loomed, Sridharan yesterday talked about the need for clarity in certain aspects.

Bangladesh will begin their Asia Cup campaign from Group B when they take on the high-flying Afghanistan team at the Sharjah International Cricket Stadium today. The match is scheduled to begin at 8 pm [BST].

Bangladesh cricket team’s newly hired technical consultant, Sridharan Sriram, heaped praises on the Bangladesh Test and T20I captain Shakib Al Hasan.   

Bangladesh will face Afghanistan in their first match of the Asia Cup tomorrow but while skipper Shakib Al Hasan was not present for the Bangladesh press conference, question was asked by the media regarding the all-rounder to Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan during the Afghanistan press event.

India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and former cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar have not had the best social media interactions, with the former terming Jadeja a ‘bits and pieces player’ during the 2019 World Cup and the player himself responding to the criticism by calling Manjrekar’s commentary “verbal diarrhoea”.

‘Kemon achen’ is a phrase that is part and parcel of everyday Bangla, translating to ‘how are you’. But it can be quite surprising to hear those words from someone who is expected to possess little knowledge of Bangla, that too from an international superstar who has amassed 208 international wickets across formats in a pretty short period of time.

Hardik Pandya's talent was never in doubt and the India all-rounder has now combined a calm mind with an uncluttered approach to emerge as a serious match-winner as he demonstrated in Sunday's Asia Cup thriller against Pakistan.

With his appetite for wickets and hard-hitting batting, Hardik Pandya has come back from controversies and injuries to become India's go-to all-rounder ahead of this year's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.

Pakistan top order batter Fakhar Zaman was praised online after walking before any fielders appealed during Pakistan’s Asia Cup clash against India.

Debutant pace bowler Naseem Shah stood out for Pakistan with figures of 2-27 but a foot injury in the last few overs had him limping as India took control with the right-left batting pair of Pandya and Jadeja. Pakistan skipper, the losing captain, during post-match did admit his side missed the services of pacer Shaheen Afridi, who was forced out of the six-nation tournament through injury.