The battle between two neighbouring countries to avoid another defeat, Afghanistan vs Pakistan has always seen some sensational encounters with a lot of spat.
Afghanistan after defeating intent merchants England were high on confidence, but later was doomed by New Zealand, citing some wrong decisions and catch drops. They were clueless while chasing the target, not planning the target and they went on playing many dot balls, leading to a collapse. Afghanistan’s schoolboy errors threw them very behind against the Kiwis.
Pakistan dominated both teams which came from the qualifiers in their first two encounters, but later on got dominated by India and Australia. Like Afghanistan, Pakistan always made some schoolboy errors dropping some catches and bowling poor length to set David Warner well. They were looking good in the chase, but eventually messed it up.
Team Preview
Afghanistan
The landlocked nation somehow needs to address the issue of middle order playing with no intent, playing continuous dots and building pressure. Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Mohammad Nabi all have a batting strike rate of less than 70. They need some good intent in the middle overs. Fielding standards have also been deplorable. Bowling needs support from both batting and fielding.
Pakistan
Pakistan till now has been a hit-and-miss in the tournament. If their batting does well, bowling fails and vice versa. They need to come out as complete in future fixtures if they want to book a place in the top 4. Fielding standards are abysmal, spin bowling doesn’t have the spark in it, and even with Usama Mir it looked faded, Babar Azam’s form is all the regions Pakistan need to work on.
Probable Playing XI
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmed.
Rahmat Shah concerning form may see him on the bench with Riaz Hassan replacing him. Considering Chennai pitch conditions, Noor Ahmed could walk in 11 for any fast bowler.
Pakistan: Imam-Ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf.
Usama Mir had a very poor outing in all three departments and could make way for Shadab Khan’s return.
Pitch Report
This match will likely be played on the same square as of India vs Australia, so teams should look to get as many as spin bowling options as possible to get a good outing in bowling. Afghanistan would be getting water in their mouth seeing this, on the other hand, Pakistan spinners haven’t looked threatening yet so far. Batters need to bat sensibly on this pitch and punish bad balls.
Players To Watch Out For
Rahmanullah Gurbaz
Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s fierce innings of 80 runs in just 57 balls gave them the upper hand against England from the start. To this date is the top scorer for Afghanistan in this World Cup edition but has been poor in chasing in this overall career averaging just around 20, he would be looking to change this soon. He’s the backbone of the Afghani batting lineup. Considering the shaky middle order, he should bat long with the same aggressive intent.
Mohammad Rizwan
Rizwan, the top scorer of this World Cup hasn’t failed in any of the matches scoring a hundred, a fifty and 2 40s. He couldn’t get his team across the line against Australia, this time around he would be looking to change this. Considering Babar Azam’s form, Pakistan is dependent on Rizwan. Rizwan needs to be up to the mark in both of his departments for Pakistan’s success.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Opening the bowling for Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman is an important member of the Afghani lineup. He was the architect of Afghanistan’s victory over England with the ball and a crucial cameo with the bat. If he takes wickets from the start, it would help the other bowlers to deliver their best. Apart from bowling, his cameos with the bat are also crucial for Afghanistan to finish strong.
PAK vs AFG Dream11 Team for Match 22 of 2023 WC
Note: This is not our final Dream11 Team as we are not aware of the Toss Result/Final Playing XI of both teams at this moment.
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