Afghanistan, Bangladesh see ODIs as good World Cup preparation

Afghanistan's and Bangladesh's teams said Monday their one-day international series will be ideal preparation ahead of the Asia Cup and World Cup.

The three-match series will begin in Chittagong on Wednesday, with Afghanistan looking for their first ODI series win in Bangladesh at their third attempt.

"We have games in the Asia Cup and World Cup, so this will be a good preparation for us to judge the opposition like the Bangladesh team," Afghan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi told reporters in Chittagong.

This year's 50-over Asia Cup tournament will be jointly hosted by Pakistan and Sri Lanka between 31 August and 17 September, before the ODI World Cup in India opens in October.

"Bangladesh always plays well in their home, and also they did well in the last couple of years in ODIs," Shahidi said. "But we also played good cricket in ODIs in the last two years."

Afghanistan played two ODI series in Bangladesh, in 2016 and 2022, losing both 2-1.

They lost the one-off test in the current series by a record 546 runs in June but hope to reverse their fortunes in the ODIs with the return of key players such as Rashid Khan.

Shahidi said he felt confident when Khan was playing.

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha said the matches were "an ideal preparation for us leading up to the Asia Cup and for the World Cup", adding that Afghanistan would be tough opponents.

"They have been playing good cricket lately... they are a pretty formidable team in the one-day format," he said.

The second and third ODIs will also be held at Chittagong, on 8 and 11 July, with two T20s to follow in Bangladesh's northeastern city of Sylhet on 14 and 16 July.