World Cup Teams Watch – Afghanistan: Spinners are the best hope for the giant-killers

When we talk about Afghanistan, the first and foremost name that comes to our minds is that of Rashid Khan, a leg-spinning revolutionary who has been defining the craft in testing times. However, Afghanistan are a lot more than just about Rashid Khan, who has been a sensational all-rounder and hopes to add significant value to the Afghan side.

Talking about relying on their spinners, the side will be rooting for their top guns in the form of Rashid, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb ur Rahman to shine bright. To streamline their pace attack they will be pinning their hopes on Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen ul Haq. However, a major spot of bother for the Afghans comes with their batters frequently running out of gas and this is exactly why Rahmanullah Gurbaz will be so crucial for the unit.

With two World Cup appearances and a very abysmal show in both, the Afghans will be hoping to make amends on India’s spin-friendly surfaces. In 2015, they won just a solitary game in the World Cup while in 2019 they lost all the nine games, aggravating matters for the team.

Recent Form:

There are two ways to see the recent form of the Afghans where they were the only team to drub Bangladesh in the latter’s backyard in the recent past which should bloom a broad smile on their faces. But as a matter of fact, what ensued not only takes away the smile from their faces but replaces it with a grave sense of insecurity. Since their triumph in Bangladesh, the side has slumped down to five straight ODI defeats while getting eliminated from Asia Cup after a terrible miscalculation of NRR against Sri Lanka.

X-Factors:

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

The hard-hitting opener has smashed two centuries in the last five innings with a blistering 151 against Pakistan while clobbering 119 against Sri Lanka in the recently concluded warm-up. More importantly, he has a scintillating chemistry with Ibrahim Zadran and this opening pair can very well be the game-changer for the Afghans.

Rashid Khan

Needless to say, the leg-spinner is one of the best in the business and when he joins the groove, not only does he stun with the ball but the bat acts like a scythe in his hands. He can ravage the bowlers at will and the kind of venomous outing that he is capable of producing for the Afghans, that makes him an irresistible pick for any side in the world.

Fazalhaq Farooqi

Despite an experience of only 21 ODIs, Farooqi still has proven his mettle and has somewhat entrenched his position in the Afghanistan side with his superlative displays in the franchise tournaments where he has gone up against renowned names of the world. Despite a fairly constricted arsenal, Farooqi pulls off the basics right with a lethal yorker that is being flanked by a decent flurry of short balls or the ones that would skid onto the batter.

Areas to work on:

Afghanistan rel ymore on individual brilliance than a collective showdown that can establish your position firmly in a grand tournament like this. They are more of a side that can send shockwaves through their counterparts for a game and in the very next they can crumble like ninepins. With consistency being a major issue and the unity of the side being questioned time and time again, they will have to work on these to get the entire team in shape.

Squad for World Cup:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (C), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK), Rahmat Shah, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Abdul Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen-ul-Haq