ICC World Cup 2019 – Match 36: PAK vs AFG – Afghanistan Predicted Playing XI

The demands of a massive tournament like the World Cup seem to have got the better of Afghanistan. In fact, their performance slightly deteriorated from the previous edition of the tournament. They played seven matches thus far but haven’t registered a single win as yet. In most of these games, they didn’t even compete hard.

Batting has been a huge letdown to the team. They suffered a massive 62-run loss in the previous match against Bangladesh. With only two games remaining, Afghanistan will look for at least one win. The team will face Pakistan in the next match and it won’t be easy to get over the line. They might fancy a few changes to the eleven in a hope of change in fortunes as well.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for Afghanistan:

Openers (Gulbadin Naib (c), Rahmat Shah)

Gulbadin Naib will continue to open the innings for his team. He’s been getting the side off to good starts. But it’s important for him to realise that it wouldn’t be sufficient. Being the leader of the side, Gulbadin should look to put out better efforts and get bigger scores.

His partner Rahmat Shah is also getting off to starts on a consistent basis. However, it’d be great if he manages to show slightly better intent and score his runs at a better pace. Shah must be more careful with his shot selection and try to execute his plans better.

Middle Order (Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Ali Khil (wk))

Hashmatullah Shahidi hasn’t looked to be at his consistent best of late. While he’s performed exceptionally well at times, there also have been occasions when he ended up disappointing. Consuming a bit too many deliveries at the start is building up the pressure on him, prompting for a big shot, which he hasn’t been able to execute well.

The campaign thus far for Asghar Afghan hasn’t been convincing. He has got the ability to manoeuvre the ball around and rotate the strike consistently. The former skipper has got to do that and anchor the innings. Najibullah Zadran has been doing a fair job with the bat considering the position where he gets to bat. He could even be promoted slightly up. Ikram Ali Khil will be keeping the wickets for the team.

All Rounders (Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan)

Samiullah Shinwari was drafted into the eleven for the last game against Bangladesh and he looked extremely good. He remained unbeaten on 49 off 51 deliveries and played some great cricket shots. But, now is the time for him to step up and save his team from some huge embarrassment.

Mohammad Nabi failed in the last match but has shown glimpses of his capability in the match against India. He should be more responsible and must play better knocks. Rashid Khan seems to be struggling to get amongst the wickets and has looked highly ineffective this tournament. While he is a must in the playing eleven, Rashid should find different ways to pick up wickets.

Bowlers (Sayed Shirzad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman)

Aftab Alam has been ruled out of the tournament due to ‘exceptional circumstances’. Thus, left-arm pacer Sayed Shirzad has replaced him in the squad. He has featured in only one ODI for Afghanistan so far but hasn’t bowled a ball. Shirzad could be picked in the eleven straightaway for this game.

He adds a different dimension to the attack and did decently well in the 4 T20I games that he played so far. Mujeeb Ur Rahman has been performing really well. He is bowling economical spells and has even picked up some crucial wickets for his team.