Afghanistan will face India in their first Super 8 match of the T20 World Cup in Barbados on Thursday, June 20. They will face Australia and Bangladesh in the next two. Heading into this match, they lost their last group match against the West Indies.
Afghanistan has been the giant killer in this tournament along with the United States. These two teams have eliminated two of the tournament favorites in New Zealand and Pakistan.
Afghanistan’s stock as a white-ball team has increased since the last World Cup. They defeated the likes of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Netherlands in the World Cup and surprised everyone by beating the Kiwis in their first T20I against them.
The team is no longer dependent on its spinners but also has good pacers and good batsmen. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-Ul-Haq are the two good pacers along with veterans Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi. In Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, they have two good openers who score runs together.
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They are playing with their best combination of play in every game and they would like to continue with them and topple India if they can. They have played 8 T20Is against India and have lost seven of them. They have the opportunity to change the script.
Afghanistan Playing 11 vs India – ICC T20 World Cup 2024, Match 43, Super 8
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK)
Gurbaz will open the batting. He is the designated opener and wicketkeeper and has scored close to 200 runs in the tournament so far. He is leading the scoring race.
Ibrahim Zadran
Zadran has been the perfect complement to Gurbaz, who scores his runs quite quickly. This is a solid starting partnership that repeatedly gets the team off to good starts.
Azmatullah Omarzai
Omarzai can fit all three. This all-rounder has decent batting and bowling skills and also gets the ball swinging early. He scored 13 of 18 against Uganda.
Gulbadin’s Vice
Baib can bat at four. He is a good all-rounder and can hit the ball long and bowl some decent overs with the ball. He scored an unbeaten 49 in the chase against PNG.
Muhammad the Prophet
Nabi can come in at five. He is an experienced campaigner and hence can bat at any number. He is also economical on the ball and can vary his pace brilliantly.
Najibullah Zadran
Zadran can come in at six. He has hit anywhere from three to seven or eight in the order. The left-hander is another experienced batsman in the XI.
Rashid Khan (C)
Rashid can bat at seven. He has a lot of skill with the bat and is a master in the art of it with the ball. He has taken six wickets, the second most for Afghanistan in this World Cup.
Karim Janat
Janat is another bowling all-rounder. He gives depth to the batting line-up and can also bowl at a decent pace. He is eight wickets short of reaching 50 T20I wickets.
Naveen-ul-Haq
Naveen-Ul-Haq is one of the two pacers in the playing eleven. He should take on Virat Kohli given his recent history in the IPL and international cricket.
Fazalhaq Farooqi
Farooqi, the left-arm pacer, will lead the pace attack. He has so far taken 12 wickets in the tournament, including a fifty. He is missing 50 T20I wickets.
Noor Ahmed
Noor concludes probable Afghanistan XI. He is the third player in this Afghanistan lineup along with Rashid and Nabi.
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