T20 World Cup 2021: Predicted Afghanistan XI for Super 12 match vs Scotland

Afghanistan has come into this T20 World Cup 2021 with a lot of hope. There is a sense of dream within this group that their best chance to win a World Cup is in this format and they can perform their best. Given the recent political scenario back home, they would want to put their extra to give something to cheer for. 

They beat West Indies in the warm-up game but lost one against South Africa despite scoring big. Having said that, here is the predicted XI of Afghanistan for their opening game in the Super 12 round against Scotland on October 25 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium: 

Openers (Hazratullah Zazai and Mohammad Shahzad) 

Afghanistan seems to have sorted that a right and left opening combination is the way to go. In both the warm-up games, Shahzad and Zazai opened the batting for Afghanistan. In the first game, both of them got a duck but they came back strongly in the second game against South Africa. 

Zazai made 56 runs while Shahzad scored 54 runs. Their stand helped their side reach 90 runs in just under nine overs setting up a good foundation for the rest of the batting to capitalize. Afghanistan would hope for a fiery start from these two aggressive batters, who have the ability to take the game away from the opposition. 

Middle order (Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran and Asghar Afghan)

In Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Afghanistan has someone who has the ability to handle situations if they lose early wickets and also continue the run-scoring if they get a good start. He is coming into this match after scores of 19 and 33 runs in the two warm-up games. Najibullah Zadran is an excellent T20 player and should find a spot at no. 4 or no. 5. 

In the last warm-up game, he batted at four but his position generally depends on the situation of the game. He scored 23 runs in the last game and would want to get some balls to settle down before going on a hitting spree. Similarly, Asghar Afghan too would want that but his strength is against the spinners. He didn’t get a lot of runs in the warm-ups but his experience will be vital. 

All-rounders (Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan)

This is one of the biggest strengths of Afghanistan and they would want all these three players to step up. Speaking about their performances coming into this game, skipper Nabi performed wonderfully with the ball. His spell of 4-2-2-3 was quite exceptional. With the bat, he got an unbeaten 34 in the match before, so he should be quite happy with the practise. 

Rashid didn’t play a lot of part in the two matches but a player of his class would look to pounce on his opportunity to start the tournament with a good performance. Gulbadin Naib adds the ability to bowl pace and also bat, which is a good variation in this attack to have. 

Bowlers (Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Hamid Hassan)

Mujeeb ur Rahman is a world-class player and he hasn’t put a foot wrong in recent times. His spell of 3 for 24 against South Africa was quite good and Afghanistan would want him to continue his good form. Naveen ul Haq is another great prospect for the Afghanistan side and has taken one wicket in each of the two warm-up matches. Hamid Hassan should get the backing of the skipper despite going wicketless in his limited time on the field during the warm-ups.