Afghanistan are one of the improving nations on the global cricketing landscape and they will head to the T20 World Cup looking to showcase that on the world stage. After a promising Asia Cup performance last month, Afghanistan head into another tournament feeling good about themselves. A number of their players have tasted Australian conditions in the Big Bash which could be significant.
Profile
Captain: Mohammad Nabi
Previous Best: Super 12 2021
Best Odds: 80/1 Betfair
Key Players: Rashid Khan & Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Group 1 Fixtures
Oct 22 vs England at Perth
Oct 26 vs New Zealand at Melbourne
Oct 28 vs Ireland at Melbourne
Nov 1 vs Sri Lanka at Brisbane
Nov 4 vs Australia at Adelaide
Squad
Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Qais Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Salim Safi, Usman Ghani. Standby Players: Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib.
Team Guide
Afghanistan made it through to the Super 12 stage of the tournament last year and finished in the top four in their section which means that they begin their campaign in that part of the event this time around. Their immediate aim will be to finish above Ireland and Sri Lanka and ensure that they automatically qualify for the 2024 tournament in the Caribbean and then anything else from there would just showcase the potential that they have.
The thing which might hold Afghanistan back is the conditions. They usually rely a lot on their spinners but whether they will encounter tracks that assist spin remains to be seen. One positive for them is that the majority of their bowlers have played in the Big Bash League in the past. Their batters have plenty of firepower among them so if the bowlers can restrict the opposition then Afghanistan should be competitive at the very least.
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Betting
Because we don’t know how those spinners are going to fare in this tournament it makes betting on their top bowler market a little tricky. My hunch is to take on Rashid Khan but the others are probably going to need assistance in the pitches which they might not get. That leads me to their batting market, which has a very open feel to it, largely because their opening pair have a little too much all or nothing about them for comfort.
I thought about Mohammad Nabi with all his Big Bash experience but the concern is he might bat too low down the order. Najibullah Zadran is another to consider but I’m not sure he’ll clear the ropes on these grounds so the player I like is Usman Ghani, a player who has been completely overlooked in this market even though he put together scores of 59 and 44* in the series with Ireland earlier in the year and put together 32* in a warm up match against a top notch Pakistan attack in a warm up game for this event. He is likely to bat in the top four and so the 14/1 on him top scoring for Afghanistan in this tournament looks very high when you consider his T20I average is a shade over 27.
Tips
Back U.Ghani Top Afghanistan Tournament Batter for a 1/10 stake at 15.00 with Betfair
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