While not as storied as India-Pakistan or England-Australia clashes, recent Pakistan-Afghanistan games have delivered thrilling moments for fans. These neighboring nations share a growing rivalry, often leading to intense on-field exchanges. This fierce rivalry is set to captivate spectators once more as they face off in the ongoing World Cup 2023.
Pakistan’s dominance against Afghanistan is unquestionable in ODI cricket, having secured victory in all seven of their previous encounters. Pakistan commenced the tournament on a strong note, triumphing over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. However, they then suffered back-to-back losses to arch-rivals India and five-time champions Australia. Their current standing places them in fifth position with four points and a net run rate of -0.456.
Pakistan’s performance in this tournament has been a mixed bag. In their recent match against Australia, aside from Shaheen Shah Afridi, the bowlers struggled to make an impact.
On the batting front, the openers started well, but the middle order faltered, with only Mohammad Rizwan showing resilience. The return of Imam-ul-Haq to form provided a glimmer of hope. Babar Azam, Pakistan’s captain, has only managed one half-century in four games and is under pressure to deliver, as is Saud Shakeel. The inability of other batters to complement Rizwan’s efforts remains a major concern.
While Shaheen performed admirably in the last game, Hasan Ali was Pakistan’s standout bowler before their recent encounter with Australia. However, concerns surround the form of Haris Rauf, who has been leaking runs.
Facing Afghanistan’s bowlers, particularly their spinners in Chennai, will be a challenging task for Pakistan’s batters. The conditions are likely to favor slow bowlers, and it will be intriguing to observe how effective Pakistan’s spinners are in extracting purchase from the wicket.
Afghanistan’s campaign in the tournament got off to a challenging start with consecutive losses to Bangladesh and India. However, they orchestrated one of the tournament’s most major upsets by defeating defending champions England in Delhi. Unfortunately, they couldn’t maintain their winning momentum and faced another defeat, this time against New Zealand in their fourth match. As a result, they find themselves at the bottom of the table with two points and a net run rate of -1.250.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Afghanistan’s leading run-scorer in this World Cup, has displayed promise with the bat. However, the team’s overall batting performance has been disappointing. On the other hand, the bowlers have generally met expectations. In their last game, the bowlers created several opportunities, but Afghanistan’s fielders dropped as many as five catches, which significantly contributed to their loss against New Zealand.
Afghanistan have already played a match in Chennai, which should better prepare them for the conditions. To outperform Pakistan, they’ll need to elevate their performance in all three crucial aspects of the game.
Time and Venue Details
October 23 from 14:00 IST, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Expected Conditions
It will be hot throughout this match in Chennai with the temperature around the 30°C mark from start to finish. The pitch offers favorable conditions for batsmen with added assistance for spin bowlers. As night falls, pacers could find swing and seam with the new ball. Both teams prioritize winning the toss, opting to bat first, targeting a score exceeding 265 runs.
Probable XIs
Pakistan are likely to field the same playing XI.
Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf.
While there might be a temptation to introduce an additional spinner for this match, Afghanistan will likely stick with the same XI.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Match-ups
Rashid Khan vs Babar Azam: Rashid has been a constant challenge for Babar in previous matches. The experienced leg spinner is set to be a significant menace for the Pakistan captain, especially considering the spin-friendly conditions in Chennai.
Shaheen Shah Afridi vs Rahmanullah Gurbaz: Coming off a five-wicket haul against Australia, Shaheen will be keen to add more wickets to his tally in the World Cup. While he hasn’t taken many with the new ball in the tournament thus far, he faces the tough task of dismissing the in-form Gurbaz during the powerplay. This clash will play a crucial role in shaping the early stages of the game.
Team Speak
“I agree we are not able to play big innings, I also agree that we haven’t played well in the last two matches. We have analysed our situation, you’ll see a different team tomorrow [against Afghanistan]. Yes, losing matches back-to-back downs your morale but we back each other and the management is backing the players as well. We are confident that we can get back on track after winning against Afghanistan.” – Imam-ul-Haq, Pakistan opener.
“I think for them (Afghans), it’s a rivalry that excites them. It’s a rivalry that sometimes in the past has been very passionate. But I’m sure we’ll see an exciting game tomorrow. It’s just the nature of the rivalry. And both teams respect each other but are very desperate to win.” –
Jonathan Trott, Afghanistan coach.