- Name: Afghanistan
- Captain: Mohammad Nabi
- Head Coach: Lance Klusener
- Squad members: 15+4
- Best result: Super 10s in 2016
- WT20 2016 result: Super 10s
A lot of trouble has been taking place in this country after the Taliban takeover but if there’s one thing we know about them is that they’re fighters. Afghanistan will be playing their 5th edition of the ICC T20 World Cup and if all is well and settled in the squad, an upset or two is highly likely from them. However, they’ve got a very tough group which includes India, Pakistan and New Zealand, which makes qualification very difficult.
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They’re biggest weapon right through this tournament will obviously be Rashid Khan who doesn’t have to worry about the pressures of captaincy now since he stepped down because of a selection process he didn’t approve of. He’s coming off a very successful IPL 2021 personally and the captaincy will be taken over by Mohammad Nabi who hasn’t put in a big performance for a while now, but his experience will count for a lot.
They made a few last minute changes to their squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup and that includes Sharafuddin Ashraf, and Dawlat Zadran being shifted from the main squad to reserves and Fareed Ahmad going from reserves to the main squad. Samiullah Shinwari was drafted into reserves after missing the initial squad and he’s also very experienced and has hit some good form over the last year or so, with both bat and ball.
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They gave the axe to Shapoor Zadran and Qais Ahmad from the overall squad and while we understand Shapoor missing out because of his age and fitness, we’re surprised Qais has missed out as the spinner has played across the world and in different conditions as well. The other player to have missed out from the final Afghanistan squad is Afsar Zazai and we understand this as well, since there are two wicket-keeper options already.
Those are Mohammad Shahzad and Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The former has been out of action of later and the latter is likely to be their first-choice keeper, opening the batting for the side. Gurbaz has also played for multiple franchise teams and one of them was the Abu Dhabi T10 league earlier this year where he got some good scores, so he’s one of the x-factor players for Afghanistan this tournament.
Among the batsmen, he’s the only one who can bring a lot of difference at the top because he’s followed with a lot of local stars who haven’t had as much exposure at the highest level. The equation is different with their bowling attack because Rashid, Nabi, Mujeeb ur Rahman, and Naveen ul Haq have all played in different T20 and T10 leagues and have plenty of experience as well. Mujeeb and Naveen also recently played in CPL 2021.
Afghanistan – T20 World Cup 2021 Betting
In case they need another seaming option, there’s Hamid Hassan who has all the right characteristics you expect from a fast bowler, including the right aggression. He was injured and was a sports presenter for a while before making a fairy tale comeback. He’s super experienced and the only thing against him right now is that he only managed 1 wicket in his last 5 domestic T20 games in Afghanistan.
Apart from Nabi, they have another genuine all-rounder in Gulbadin Naib who bowls medium pace and is a floater in the batting lineup as well. In the 2019 ICC World Cup, he opened the batting and I won’t be too surprised if he does so here again too. He’s another bits and pieces player who will want to bring his A-game to the tournament, though he’s a bit short on match practice right now.
AFGHANISTAN T20 World Cup 2021 squad: Mohammad Nabi (C), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Mohammad Shahzad, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Gulbadin Naib, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Hamid Hassan, Fareed Ahmad, Naveen Ul Haq. RESERVES: Sharafuddin Ashraf, Samiullah Shinwari, Dawlat Zadran, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Talking about experience in the middle order, there’s former captain Asghar Afghan who can play multiple roles for the team. If there’s an early collapse, you can expect him to drop the anchor and when needed, he can go ballistic as well. His years as captain will be an added benefit for Nabi as well. Overall, we’re expecting good performances but we don’t see any upsets taking place.
For more updates on Afghanistan’s campaign at the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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