Afghanistan enter another world event with much promise as they hope to upset the applecart of their fancied opponents in the Super-12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 that is underway in Australia. Their task won’t be easy but such has been the case for Mohammad Nabi and his troops all along and they have been producing eye-catching performances year after year. However, a breakthrough result that the talent they have at their disposal deserves, continues to evade them.
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At the last year’s T20 WC in UAE, they blew hot and cold. Big victories over low-ranked Scotland and Namibia were completely overshadowed by thrashing they received from India, New Zealand and Pakistan in the group stage.
Despite their visible weaknesses, Afghanistan have maintained an aura of a team that is quite capable of pushing an elite team to its limit on their day. Namibia and Scotland have already proven the glorious uncertainties of the T20 format as they stunned former champions in some style in the first round of the ongoing event.
Surely Afghanistan can pull off a surprise win or two and maybe even sneak through to the semi-finals? On paper though it doesn’t look that promising.
They continue to rely heavily on their spinners with the trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-ur-Rahman and captain Nabi expected to lead the bowling attack. These three have a rich experience of playing in Australian conditions via the Big Bash League and hence will have to shoulder the burden of carrying their inexperienced teammates through the event.
Although their pacers have shown improvement with the team roping in former Pakistan bowler Umar Gul as the bowling coach, it’s their batting department that needs to step up. Australia will put up bouncy conditions and their batters will have to find a way to negotiate the challenge.
How they fared last time?
Well, they started with a bang. Scotland, a team that entered the Super-12 stage with a hat-trick of impressive wins, were crushed by 130 runs. The high didn’t last long as Pakistan beat them by five wickets in the next match. Afghanistan quickly recovered with another thumping win, this time against Namibia by 62 runs. Their hopes evaporated quickly though thanks to big defeats against India (by 66 runs) and New Zealand (by eight wickets).
Players to Watch Out For
Rashid Khan: Their talisman. Rashid has been their biggest superstar and Afghanistan should count themselves lucky to have been someone of his world-class quality to rely upon. So ubiquitous the legspinner has been across various global T20 tournaments for that it’s hard to imaging he’s just 24. His knowledge of the Aussie conditions where pacers are expected to play a more dominant role than the spinners will be invaluable.
Najibullah Zadran: The middle-order batter will have to bring his A game and prove he’s not just effective in helpful conditions. The bounce will test him and the challenge will be against the express fast bowlers. Last T20 WC, he was Afghanistan’s top run-getter with 172 runs.
Strongest Playing XI
Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Mohammad Nabi (c), Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Full Squad
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Qais Ahmad, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Nabi (captain), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Saleem, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Rashid Khan
Fixtures
- October 22: vs England, Perth Stadium
- October 26: vs New Zealand, Melbourne Cricket Ground
- October 28: vs B2, Melbourne Cricket Ground
- November 1: vs A1, The Gabba (Brisbane)
- November 4: vs Australia, Adelaide Oval
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