Pakistan are the higher-rated side, but with their loss to India and Afghanistan’s fantastic two-in-two, the odds look completely even in this Asia Cup Super Four fixture.
Afghanistan’s strength is their bowling, more specifically their spin bowling, where Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi are all world-class, and match-winners.
In the two games at the Asia Cup so far, though, they have raised their standards with the bat too – 249 against Sri Lanka and 255/7 against Bangladesh, for wins by 91 runs and 136 runs respectively.
“The batting has to get up there to where the bowlers are,” coach Phil Simmons said recently, and even though reaching the levels of the spin trio will take some doing, the batsmen are playing their part at the Asia Cup.
Rahmat Shah scored 72 in the first game, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Rashid Khan hit contrasting half-centuries against Bangladesh, and all of Ihsanullah, Mohammad Shahzad and Gulbadin Naib have made good contributions so far.
That, more than anything else, makes this Afghan unit look even more formidable than usual, and make them a tremendous force, not to forget the fielding, which looked well-oiled against Bangladesh, adding another major dimension to Afghanistan’s already excellent game.
One concern will be the fitness status of Asghar Afghan, their captain, who has picked up a groin injury.
Up next for Afghanistan, No.10 on the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings, are Pakistan, ranked fifth and the holders of the ICC Champions Trophy. Both Afghanistan’s scalps so far are also ranked above them, but Pakistan are an especially strong unit, despite their poor performance against India.
“We sort of batted outside our roles, which was very disappointing,” Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan coach, said after the loss to India, where Pakistan folded for 162 before India won by eight wickets by finishing the chase in just 29 overs.
It certainly was disappointing, especially considering the buzz around the rare India v Pakistan fixture, but Sarfraz Ahmed’s men shouldn’t be expected to repeat the performance.
There is the old cliché about Pakistan being a temperamental side, outstanding one day and quite the opposite the next, but there is an element of consistency in Pakistan sides of late, and Ahmed and Arthur will back the boys to come back strong after a bad day at work. That’s what they did at the Champions Trophy too – winning the title by beating India by 180 runs in the final after losing the opening game to the same opponents by 124 runs (DLS method).
That’s what Pakistan can do, and that’s what they will hope to do. The team, in terms of personnel, is brilliant. Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman are top picks as openers, and in Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik and captain Ahmed himself, there’s enough in the tank there.
The bowling unit looks as impressive as ever, with Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali, Usman Shinwari and Faheem Ashraf the main paceman and Shadab Khan the outstanding spin frontman.
It’s a superb team, capable of great things. But so are Afghanistan, and this should be an outstanding contest between two units with great talent and ability.
Key players
Gulbadin Naib (Afghanistan): The medium-pace-bowling all-rounder is one of the more experienced men in the Afghanistan unit, but has been inconsistent, especially with the ball, over the years. He was expensive against Bangladesh too, conceding 30 runs in six overs in a team total of 119. But two wickets and a 38-ball 42* was a good performance, and Naib will hope to build on it.
Imam-ul-Haq (Pakistan): The bespectacled Pakistani opener isn’t quite as slam-bang as his partner Fakhar Zaman is, but the games so far haven’t been the 300-plus sorts we have become so used to. Building an innings and batting deep might be the trick, and Imam-ul-Haq has shown he can do that.
Conditions
Abu Dhabi is not too different from Dubai, in that it’s going to be hot and clammy. Two games have been played in Abu Dhabi so far, Afghanistan featuring in both, and they went along similar lines: a good first-innings score from Afghanistan and poor chases from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Squads
Afghanistan: Asghar Afghan (c), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Ihsanullah Janat, Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Hashmat Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Najibullah Zadran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Aftab Alam, Samiullah Shinwari, Munir Ahmad Kakar (wk), Sayed Ahmad Sherzad, Sharafudin Ashraf, Yamin Ahmadzai
Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c & wk), Fakhar Zaman, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Amir, Shadab Khan, Imam ul Haq, Shan Masood, Babar Azam, Asif Ali, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Nawaz, Fahim Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Junaid Khan, Usman Shinwari, Shaheen Afridi.
The text has been copied from ICC website. The headline has been changed for style purposes.