Will Afghanistan National Cricket Team Challenge India?

Afghanistan cricket team is one of the teams in international cricket that has shown a lot of improvement in their game for the last 4 years whether it's their performance in the shorter format of the game or 50 overs format, they have been proving themself at every stage of the ICC event. In the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, after making it into the Super 8’s stage of the tournament, by winning 3 back-to-back games, the point of concern for every cricket fan is whether the Afghanistan national cricket team can challenge the Indian team. The first match they will play in the Super 8 stage of the tournament will be against Men in Blue, who have remained unbeaten throughout the group stage and dominated the other team with their strong batting and bowling department. However, before that, Rashid Khan and Co. will be seen playing against the hosts West Indies for their final group stage game at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Saint Lucia.

Let’s do the SWOT analysis of Afghanistan team and find out their strength and weakness before their much-anticipated game against the Indian team.

Strengths:

Afghanistan national cricket team has one of the best spinners in the squad, which has also remained one of their strengths so far in the tournament, having spin wizard Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmed and Mohammed Nabi single-handedly change the match against any team in the World, which they have shown in the game against Kiwis by stopping on a total of just, runs 75 runs in 20 overs, while chasing a target of 159 runs.

In this game, the Afghanistan spinners showed their magic and picked 6 wickets of New Zealand batters, playing a crucial role in winning the match against Black Caps. So, it would not be wrong to say that Afghanistan spinners can again surprise the Indian batters.

Weakness:

Despite performing well and making it into the playoffs by winning 3-back-to-back games, the point of concern for the Afghans is their middle-order batsman, who hasn’t performed well in their first 3 games so far in the tournament. Experienced players like Omazai, Nabi and Rashid Khan, who are entering into the marquee event after playing 2 months of non-stop cricket in the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) from their respective franchises, are unable to show their prowess at an international stage. 

Before heading towards the marquee event, the Afghanistan team will be looking forward to solving this problem as they are going to play against one of the best bowling attacks.

Opportunities:

Apart from having one of the best spinners in their squad who has experience playing more than a hundred T20 games for respective franchises in different leagues. The Afghanistan pace bowlers have also impressed everyone so far in the tournament, who are in top-notch form where in the first 3 games, they have been seen picking wickets in the powerplay as well as in the death overs. 

The form of Fazhalhaq Farooqui will definitely give a boost to the Afghanistan team as he is the leading wicket-taker so far in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, having 12 wickets to his name in 3 games of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024. Meanwhile, the experience of Naveen-ul-Haq, who has been one of the consistent bowlers from the Afghanistan team in terms of giving the runs, will definitely play a key role in the match against India with his slow cutters.

Threats:

It would not be wrong to say that the Afghanistan team entered this tournament with full preparation, where they wanted to look strong as a team in both departments, which they were used to lacking before in the earlier ICC events. However, in this tournament, their opening batters, Gurbaz and Zadran, have dominated the group stage by scoring the most runs in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz has scored a total of 167 runs in 4 games so far in the tournament with an average of 41, having 2 fifties to his name with a strike rate of 150 plus. Meanwhile, his opening partner Ibrahim Zadran has scored a total of 152 runs in 4 games with an average of 38, having 1 half-century to his name. These two batters can be a threat to the Indian team in their upcoming game against Afghanistan.