Afghan Sports

Today, Afghanistan Cricket Board have confirmed the fixture & venue of the much anticipated T20I series against India in the month of September. Afghanistan will host India at the Arun Jaitley cricket stadium in Delhi. This will be the second time when Ibrahim Zadran will be leading team Afghanistan against India in a T20I series. Earlier in 2024, Ibrahim had led Afghanistan in Rashid Khan's absence when BCCI hosted ACB for a T20I series. 🇦🇫 🏏

The brightest moment of the match was definitely going to be the mammoth partnership of 231 runs between the seasoned pair of Ibrahim Zadran & Sediqullah Atal. This incidentally is the third highest partnership for Afghanistan in ODI cricket. Both took their time & kept on building a strong foundation for the team without losing out on the required momentum of around six runs per over. In the process, Ibrahim brought up his 7th ODI ton in 45 innings & crossed the milestone of 2000 ODI runs which is the third fastest in the history. On the other hand Sediqullah took the top gear after registering his second ODI hundred in 16 innings. Both played superbly & orchestrated Afghanistan to post their highest ODI total on board. The team was well poised to post more than 370 but soon after the departure of these two, the batting collapsed owing to poor application by the middle & lower order. Atal was named player of the match for his glorious knock of 143 runs in only 120 balls which is the highest in his ODI career so far. 💯 🇦🇫 🏏

Afghanistan Cricket Board | Mirwais Ashraf | Sayed Naseem Sadaat سیدنسیم سادات | Devender Kumar

The series against Ireland might have been sealed but the performance of Afghanistan in the last 10 overs of both the innings are a huge cause of concern. They were far from being clinical. The batting collapsed after a record breaking partnership. The trend continued in their bowling efforts as well. Fast bowlers swayed away from their usual 6-8 metre lengths & started bowling half trackers with wider lines which were severely punished by the Irish batters. On top of that there were casual mis-fields which at least costed another 20 runs. Somehow these breakdowns are becoming a chronic habit of this team. Hamid Hassan as a mentor has again failed to motivate the bowlers. If the board do not appoint a credible bowling coach soon enough, I can see this team crumble against the best teams in the World Cup but it seems ACB has put cotton in their ears & is happy to persist with Hamid Hassan without any visible outcome. That's insane to say the least. 🇦🇫 🏏

Afghanistan Cricket Board | Mirwais Ashraf | Sayed Naseem Sadaat سیدنسیم سادات | Devender Kumar

Although it is the highest ODI score of Afghanistan in their history, they could've reached so much more had their middle order & tail applied some common sense & focussed on singles & doubles in between big shots. But it is being observed from the past 4-5 years that after a solid start, they send their hitters ahead & try to score of every ball which is so village in mindset. This chronic habit always disturbs the momentum & the team always end up 20-30 runs short. This flawed approach can in turn prove costly against bigger teams. This problem is so repetitive that it now sounds too cliche. Therefore addressing this red flag should be the topmost priority of the coaching staff. 🇦🇫 🏏

Afghanistan Cricket Board | Mirwais Ashraf | Sayed Naseem Sadaat سیدنسیم سادات | Devender Kumar | Rashid Khan | Nawroz Mangal | Noor ALi Zadran | Hamid Hassan

Five Afghans have already been locked in five different teams of ILT20 league.

MI Emirates - Rashid Khan
Gulf Giants - Azmatullah omarzai
Desert Vipers - Mujeeb ur Rahman
Sharjah Warriorz - Waqar Salamkheil
Dubai Capitals - Noor Ahmad Lakanwal

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Ghazanfar was a delight to watch as his 3/29 from 9 overs broke the top & middle order of Ireland along with Rashid Khan. He just needs to be a bit more disciplined with his wides.

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Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Rashid Khan wields his magic once again to deliver a match winning allround performance for Afghanistan. More than his bowling, his dogged partnership with Yamin was crucial in sealing this victory much to the delight of fans. Afghanistan has taken a 2-0 unassailable lead in the ongoing ODI series with 2 more matches remaining.

🚨 3/46 & 37*(43)

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Yamin Ahmadzai do not have the speed anymore but on trying wickets he is quite a handful bowler because of his disciplined accuracy & the experience he has gathered from playing a lot of domestic cricket. Not only he has bowled well upfront but also put a price tag to his wicket to stick around with Rashid Khan when 31 odd runs were still required to win this tense battle.

🚨 2/35 (9) & 4*(26)

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A 3-wicket win over Ireland have secured a direct berth for Afghanistan in the 2027 ODI ICC Cricket World Cup via the ICC - International Cricket Council rankings. 🇦🇫 🏏

Imagine if this guy was made the ODI skipper as per speculation. Afghanistan Cricket Board at this point requires a compact technical finisher. Rasooli is neither technically compact nor has any performances so far in ODI's. I guess he will get another 2 chances on this tour & then will be evaluated if he is to be persisted with as a prospect for the World Cup. 🇦🇫 🏏