Afghanistan has recently impressed through their consistent performances in international cricket. They are gradually growing up as a strong team unit in international cricket. Dawlat Khan Ahmadzai, the chief selector of Afghanistan national cricket team, has set the higher goal for the upcoming Cricket World Cup.
Afghanistan made their Cricket World Cup debut in the previous edition (2015). They finished in the sixth position in the Pool A points table (seven teams) after winning only one match (against Scotland) in that edition. They will play their second Cricket World Cup tournament in the upcoming edition.
England and Wales will host the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup from 30th May to 14th July. The 10th-ranked ODI side Afghanistan will begin their forthcoming World Cup journey on 1st June. In their opening match of this tournament, Afghanistan will face the defending champions Australia at Bristol.
Afghanistan has qualified for the upcoming Cricket World Cup after finishing as the champions in the 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe in March 2018. In the final of that tournament, they beat two-time World Cup champions Windies by seven wickets.
Later, in the Asia Cup 2018 in UAE in last September, Afghanistan continued their impressive performances. In the Group Stages of that tournament, Afghanistan remained unbeaten after beating Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Later, in the Super Four round, they suffered close defeats against Pakistan and Bangladesh while they tied against India.
We are aiming for a semifinal berth – Dawlat Khan Ahmadzai
Ahmadzai is confident of their similar success in the upcoming Cricket World Cup. He believes that two sensations, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman‘s presence can guide them to the semi-final of the forthcoming cricket World Cup.
According to PTI, Ahmadzai said, “There was no Rashid or Mujeeb in 2015 [Afghanistan finished sixth in a seven-team pool] so this time we are aiming for a semifinal berth. With the team composition we have, we can definitely surprise a few teams.”
Ahmadzai is also happy on the pacer Hamid Hasan’s return to the national squad for the upcoming Cricket World Cup. The 31-year-old right-arm pacer played his last international match in July 2016.
Ahmadzai believes that Hamid Hasan’s return is a big boost for their pace-bowling attack.
He added, “Hamid Hassan is back into the fast bowling attack and that is a big boost. He has been a great fast bowler for Afghanistan and will lead the pace attack alongside Dawlat Zadran.”
Dawlat Khan Ahmadzai also spoke about the recent captaincy controversy
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has recently changed the national team’s captaincies. Suddenly, they have removed Asghar Afghan from the captaincy in all three international formats. As the replacement, they have chosen Gulbadin Naib as the new ODI captain along with Rahmat Shah and Rashid Khan as the Test and T20I captain respectively.
Soon, many Afghanistan international players have criticised their cricket board for making these crucial changes just before the Cricket World Cup. However, Ahmadzai has claimed that the team is a united-group now and they are ready for the upcoming tournament.
Talking about that controversy, Ahmadzai said, “The team members, including Rashid and Nabi, are now happy for Gulbadin. He is not a new man. He has been playing for 17 years, and has captaincy experience at the first-class and under-19 level.
“Asghar himself has said that Gulbadin is like his younger brother who believes that Asghar’s experience will come in handy in the World Cup. They are a united front now. Changes happen.”
Before their upcoming Cricket World Cup journey, Afghanistan is ready to play two ODIs against Scotland and two ODIs against Ireland.