Afghanistan wicketkeeper batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz continued his fine touch in 2024 with yet another century. Gurbaz slammed his third International century in the year during the third ODI against Bangladesh. Gurbaz has gone past Indian stalwart Virat Kohli with his eighth ODI ton during the third game in Sharjah.
Gurbaz's eighth ODI ton made him go past Kohli in a major record list but he fell a little short of the milestones of Babar Azam and Hashim Amla. Gurbaz took only 46 innings to reach his eighth ODI hundred, while Virat Kohli took 68 outings to reach these many centuries. Pakistan's maestro batter Babar reached eight ODI tons in 44 innings, while South Africa's Hashim Amla holds the record as he got there in 43 innings.
Fewest innings taken to reach 8 ODI centuries:
1 - Hashim Amla: 43 innings
2 - Babar Azam: 44 innings
3 - Rahmanullah Gurbaz: 46 innings
4 - Imam Ul Haq: 47 innings
5 - Quinton de Kock: 52 innings
6 - Calum Macleod: 56 innings
7 - Shikhar Dhawan: 57 innings
Coming to the Afghanistan vs Bangladesh third ODI, the Bangla Tigers won the toss and opted to bat first. They made 244 from their 50 overs on the back of Mahmudullah's 98 and Mehidy Hasan Miraz's 66.
Bangladesh made two changes to their Playing XI with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto missing the game due to his groin injury and Taskin Ahmed getting seated. Zakir Hasan and Nahid Rana came into the Playing XI after Bangladesh opted to bat first.
"We'll bat first. The wicket looks good in the first innings. A good moment for me (to play the 100th ODI). Two changes. Shanto got injured, and Taskin is not playing. Zakir and Nahid Rana are playing," Bangladesh stand-in skipper Mehidy said at the toss.
"The pitch is new. It's a fresh pitch and looks drier and rougher. I think it'll spin right from the start. Chasing is a little bit difficult here. We'll try to learn from what we did wrong in the last match and try to do well today. We have spoken about that (rotation of strike). When we played (batting in the second ODI), it was almost like a fourth-innings track. We go with the same team," Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said.
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Tanzid Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Zakir Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz(c), Towhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali(w), Nasum Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman
Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Sediqullah Atal, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Allah Ghazanfar, Nangeyalia Kharote, Fazalhaq Farooqi
