Afghanistan vs Bangladesh 2018

The 12th Test cricket playing full member nation, Afghanistan will play Bangladesh for three T20 Internationals in Dehradun prior to the nation's historic one-off Test against India. Originally, the matches were scheduled to be played as One Day Internationals, but the Bangladesh Cricket Board agreed to change the fixtures to T20Is in preparation for the 2020 ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

Afghanistan are currently ranked eighth in ICC Twenty20 rankings, ahead of full members Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe.

Playing as home team, Afghanistan would start as favourites in the forthcoming T20I series owing to their potent spin axis of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. Afghanistan will also have the advantage of playing in familiar conditions in India. Rashid is expected to be one of the biggest threats for Bangladesh, considering his recent performances in the Indian Premier League. Currently the top-ranked bowler in the ICC Twenty20 ranking, the leg spinner played a vital role in his franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad storming into the final.

On the other side, Bangladesh's performance in the Nidahas Trophy, where they earned a spot in the final at the expense of host Sri Lanka, will hold the side in good stead going into the Afghanistan series.

Bangladesh will travel to Dehradun on May 29th and are scheduled to play a practice match on 1st June before the start of the series. Bangladesh will play three T20Is against their Asian rivals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on June 3, 5 and 7 respectively. These will be the first international cricket matches to be played at the venue.

Afghanistan and Bangladesh have only met once previously in the shortest format, with the latter winning by nine wickets at the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.