This team will be playing their first ever World Cup this year. They emerged as the second team from the Associate nations after Ireland. This team seemed quite promising with respect to their performance in the recent past. They have qualified for almost all major tournaments in the recent past including the Asia Cup and the World T20. They will be hoping for some success in this World Cup and would definitely try to register a single victory to make their start to the World Cup campaign somewhat memorable.
Complete Squad of Afghanistan:
Captain: Mohammad Nabi
Coach: Kabir Khan
Batsmen:
- Asghar Stanikzai
- Javed Ahmadi
- Najibullah Zadran
- Nasir Jamal
- Nawroz Mangal
- Usman Ghani
Bowlers:
- Aftab Alam
- Dawlat Zadran
- Hamid Hassan
- Shapoor Zadran
All-rounders:
- Gulbadin Naib
- Mirwais Ashraf
- Mohammad Nabi
- Samiullah Shenwari
Wicket Keepers:
- Afsar Zazai
Strengths:
- The team has performed relatively well in the recent past which will add to their confidence.
- The team has got solid depth in batting.
- They possess good number of all rounders
Threats
- As this is their first ever World Cup, so they will be under pretty much pressure.
- They lack World Cup experience.
- In the warm up matches, they faced batting collapses which is surely a threat.
Impact Players:
Mohammad Nabi: The captain of the Afghan team will definitely hold a key as he has been pretty much of a reliable player for them in the recent past. Also he is pretty good both with the bat and the ball which makes him even more dangerous.
Asghar Stanikzai: This player has played several brilliant knocks for Afghanistan and has immense contributions in Afghanistan’s way to qualify for the World Cup. Also, he is quite much of an attacking batsman and has been in good touch in the recent past.
Nawroz Mangal: He is also one of the most experienced players in the line up and is quite much capable of anchoring the innings right from the start. He can switch his batting between being defensive and aggressive. So, undoubtedly he is one of the prime strengths in the team.
Possible Playing XI:
Afsar Zazai (wk), Asghar Stanekzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Javed Ahmadi, Mohammad Nabi (capt), Najibullah Zadran, Nawroz Mangal, Samiullah Shinwari, Shapoor Zadran, Usman Ghani.