Hashmatullah Shahidi and Afghanistan walk the talk

Afghanistan were handed a gigantic defeat in the one-off Test by Bangladesh in Mirpur last month. To heal that wound, they needed a special performance in the ODI series opener. But it's not easy getting the better of Bangladesh in their backyard in their strongest format. But they knew very well they had enough fuel in the tank to beat them.

"We're here to win," said Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi before the series. "We know Bangladesh are a good side but we are here to play well and win. We have been playing well for the last couple of years."

The confidence was evident when Afghanistan were on the field as well. When Shahidi came out to bat after the fall of the second wicket. Bangladesh planned to bounce him out. Taskin Ahmed and Hasan Mahmud decided to have a short-leg. Before the second delivery of the 21st over, Hasan had Litton Das stationed at short-leg. Everyone knew a bumper was coming.

Shahidi pulled the ball hard and it went past Litton in a flash. Shahidi stamped his authority with that shot, not being afraid of what came his way. He was ready to give it back.

Bangladesh still have the upper hand in terms of head-to-head in ODIs (seven wins, five losses) even after the loss in the series opener but they have never been overwhelming favourites against Afghanistan. In T20Is, Afghanistan have the edge (six wins, three losses). 

Afghanistan were involved in an ODI series last year that could have gone either way. In the end, an epic partnership between Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz became the deciding factor. The script was almost the same this time around too. Tamim Iqbal got out to Fazalhaq Farooqi again and this time there was no big partnership to neutralise the collapse.

After the initial burst from Farooqi, it was the spinners' turn. Bangladesh have always found it difficult to negate the Afghanistan spinners and that's the reason why they could never dominate them in T20Is. On Wednesday, the spin trio of Afghanistan had an economy rate of 2.88 (compared to 5.21 off pace) and Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb-ur-Rahman shared five wickets among them.

They dried up the boundaries and crippled the hosts' progress. Bangladesh had a poor middle phase and there was a period between the 27th and 39th over where Bangladesh failed to score a single boundary off 75 deliveries. They went at barely three-an-over at that phase.

In a 43-over game, Afghanistan choked Bangladesh by bowling 162 dot balls which is almost 63% of the total deliveries faced. Towhid Hridoy's fifty was the only silver lining in Bangladesh's innings but the tourists were able to limit his scoring options too.

Tamim Iqbal pointed out that Bangladesh would play a lot of games against Afghanistan over the course of the next five months. After the completion of the ODI series in Chattogram, they will head to Sylhet for two T20Is. In the Asia Cup, they will play at least one game and at best three and meet each other in the all-important World Cup clash in Dharamsala.

Bangladesh have the bragging rights in ICC events, having won all against Afghanistan quite convincingly. But this time, Afghanistan have a much better line-up. There are quite a few solid and technically sound batters. They lacked a quality fast bowler for a long time but now they have a world-class one in Farooqi. The spin attack is more experienced. 

Afghanistan have shown glimpses of success in white-ball cricket but are yet to do something significant in an ICC event. This time the conditions will be familiar to many of the players because of their prior experience and they will get to face a familiar opponent in Bangladesh in the first game. Can they go the extra yard and finally beat Bangladesh in the World Cup? Only time will tell us that but Shahidi and his men will be more confident than ever.