Bangladesh also had the same bitter experience against India and South Africa after thrashing Pakistan in the Test series. The red ball had a great opportunity to shake off the disappointment in the ODI series against Afghanistan. But they failed there too. After losing the series by 2-1, Bangladesh moved from 8th to 9th in the ICC ODI rankings.
After defeating Bangladesh in the series, Afghanistan is now at number 8 in the ODI rankings. Former Bangladesh selector and BCB women's head Habibul Bashar Suman, however, praised Shanto-Miraj's performance despite the loss to the Afghans.
According to Habibul Bashar, the Afghan series was challenging for Bangladesh. Considering that they played better than expected. He told the media in Mirpur today, 'The series was a bit challenging for us. Of course, Afghanistan are very used to playing on this ground, their home ground. They played more series here. A number of injuries have become our big problem. We missed Taskin, we missed Mushfiq, we missed skipper Shanta.'
In Sharjah conditions the spinners have an advantage on the wicket. But if Miraj-Nasumra could have taken wickets in the middle overs, then the result of the last one would have been different, Habibul Bashar thinks. He said, 'The batting has been good for us. This is what we hoped for. But in bowling, the spin truck here, the spinners have bowled very well. But if they could have taken more wickets in the middle, it would have been an advantage for us. Still a good, challenging series; But Bangladesh played well.'
Appreciating Afghanistan's batting plan, Habibul Bashar said, 'I think Bangladesh played well in the remaining two matches except the first match. In all the three matches, the situation was created for Bangladesh to win. The first match was rather more chance-created. Afghans played very well in the last match. Batted as planned. Gave no chance to our spinners. They knew that now the fast bowlers will not get much advantage. Their batting plan was very good.'
Habibul Bashar said that the Bangladesh team played better than expected in the Afghan series, 'Before playing this series, many people said that Bangladesh will not be able to stand. Afghanistan is a very good team. I think Bangladesh played very well. A good game means winning the series. We couldn't do that. Bangladesh played better than what everyone expected.
