A team marred by political and terrorising situations in the recent past, the country divided into parts, yet the spirit in the players didn't shut one ounce down and have grown strenth to strength. Afghanistan is one of the teams to be looked out when the prestigious tournament of ICC T20 WC gets underway with the qualifiers from 16th October 2022 at Australia. Like how West Indies was touted to be a great force in the T20 format, Afghanistan are slowly climbing up the ladder to prove their worth and be a force in the shortest format of the game.
2021 squad:
Mohammad Nabi (Captain), Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan (replaced by Sharafuddin Ashraf), Najibullah Zadran, Hamid Hassan,Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Mohammad Shahzad, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan,Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Farid Ahmed Malik, Naveen ul Haq
2022 squad:
Mohammad Nabi (Captain), Najibullah Zadran (Vice-Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Rashid Khan, Fazal Haque Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Qais Ahmed, Usman Ghani,Salim Safi.
Afghanistan has named its 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup, which begins in Australia on 16 October with the qualifiers.
From the 17 players who were part of the Aghanistan squad for the Asia Cup 2022, Samiullah Shinwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat and Noor Ahmad are excluded, while Darwish Rasooli, Qais Ahmad and Salim Safi made it to the 15-member cut.
In addition, Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah and Gulbadin Naib have been added to the squad as reserves.
22-year-old Rasooli, who made his international debut earlier this year, made an entry into the T20 WC squad after recovering from a finger injury and churning out impressive performances in the Shpageeza Cricket League 2022.
Qais Ahmad returned to the squad, having played his last T20I match in March 2022, while 20-year-old Safi has secured his maiden international call-up.
Qais Ahmad. Salim Safi and Darwish Rassoli of Afghanistan
“The Asia Cup was a very good opportunity for the team to buildup things nicely for the much-important global event in Australia,” Chief selector Noor Malikzai said.
“Fortunately, Darwish Rasooli has recovered from injury (broken finger) and we are happy to have him available for the WT20; he has demonstrated good glimpses of him in the previously held Shpageeza Cricket League 2022 and offers an additional batting option to our middle order.
“Since the Australian conditions offer further support for the fast bowlers, so we have added Salim Safi, the tall right-arm quick to add further impetus to our bowling department. Overall we have picked our best available players for the event and we are hopeful of them to do well and better represent the country in the mega event.”
Strength and Weakness of Afghanistan Team:
This team that has been the biggest influencer in Asian cricket in the last few years and has the power to shock the big teams and they have built a team like that. Playing under the captaincy of Mohammad Nabi, there is a great balance in this team, where their bowling looks very tremendous.
Even though fast bowlers are going to dominate this event of T20 World Cup which will help them with swing and bounce on Australian soil, but at the same time spin bowlers can also walk with a little bit of intelligence. If we look at the spin bowling attack, Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous sides. This team has such spin bowlers in Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi, who can spin any batting order. If their spin is said to be the most powerful side of this team, then it will not be wrong. These three also provide additional advantage in playing in BBL for a quite good period of time and their knowledge of the conditions would add great brownie points for putting up a good fight by them this T20 WC.
Afghan team will suffer from this weakness:
Afghanistan’s team, which has become an Asian sensation in the last few years, has surprised everyone with its performance. This team has shown the ability to beat the big teams. In T20 cricket, Afghanistan’s team can surprise anyone, but the biggest problem for them here is lack of experience. In the Asia Cup, we have seen that inexperience hurt them big time. Along with this, problems can also be seen in the batting of the team. Therefore, it can be said that the weakness of the Afghan team may be their inability to handle the pressure in front of the big teams.
Predicted XI:
Mohammad Nabi (Captain), Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen Ul Haq, Usman Ghani, Fazal Haque Farooqui
