Afghanistan all set to trouble the big names.
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Canberra: Bangladesh won the toss and chose to bat against debutants Afghanistan in their World Cup Pool A match at Canberra's Manuka Oval on Wednesday.(Scorecard | Blog)
"Looks like a good track. We can put up a good total," Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza said as the match began under sunny skies.
Bangladesh left out Nasir Hossain, Taijul Islam, Arafat Sunny and Al-Amin, while Afghanistan omitted Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Usman Ghani and Nasir Jamal.
Apart from fellow Associate nation Scotland, Bangladesh is Afghanistan's big opportunity for a win at the World Cup as they also have hosts Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and England to contend with in Pool A.
The Afghans want to give their war-weary homeland something to cheer and they hold hopes of upsetting Test-playing Bangladesh after shocking them in the Asia Cup in Dhaka last year.
With experienced players like Nowroz Mangal, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shinwari, Najibullah Zadran, Shapoor Zadran and Hamid Hasan, Afghanistan will hope they can show their talent in the big league.
Bangladesh, coached by Sri Lankan Chandika Hathurusingha, will need a dramatic turn in fortunes to ensure another World Cup does not cause more misery.
Bangladesh failed to register wins for most of 2014 until fellow wooden-spooners Zimbabwe came calling at the end of the year and were thrashed 3-0 in Tests and 5-0 in the one-dayers.
The focal point of Bangladesh's campaign will be the skilful all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who goes into his third World Cup as the ICC top-ranked all-rounder in all three formats.
Teams
Afghanistan - Afsar Zazai, Javed Ahmadi, Nawroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Samiullah Shenwari, Mohammad Nabi (capt), Najibullah Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Aftab Alam, Shapoor Zadran, Hamid Hassan.
Bangladesh - Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sabbir Rahman, Mohammad Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Soumya Sarkar, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed.
Umpires: Steve Davis (ENG), Joel Wilson (WIS)
TV umpire: Aleem Dar (PAK)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL)
Weather: Sunny, possible shower. Maximum temperature 29 Celsius
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