ICC World Cup: England to take on Afghanistan on Sunday in Delhi
On Sunday, England will take on Afghanistan at Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The Match will start at 2 PM.
Hashmatullah Shahidi doesn’t like to dwell on the past. He made that clear in his first presser of the World Cup when he was quizzed about the pressures of playing a big tournament and recent history not doing him and his team any favours.
“We’re different,” he repeatedly stressed.
‘Different’ is what they need to be – from the version that bowled to Rohit Sharma three days ago, or the ones that ran into the England juggernaut in Manchester four years ago. Shahidi was there that day, partaking in the deflating neck exercise of following the trajectory of the ball sailing into the stands as Eoin Morgan hit a record 17 sixes and England amassed 25 in all – another record at the time. Morgan no longer takes the field as an active cricketer, but Jos Buttler’s crew is capable of being as devastating, if not more.
England are currently like the plane that’s just taken the last turn before the momentum-fueling sprint towards take-off. The Delhi venue, which now has the worst bowling average (51.32) at the World Cup, will provide quite the runway.
Afghanistan showed competence with the bat in the game against India but it is their bowling that needs stepping up on Sunday, as England will not just eye the two points on offer, but also try to pair it up with a booster shot for their Net Run Rate. The extent to which Afghanistan blunt that will give a good idea of how accurate or farfetched Shahidi’s pre-tournament claims are.
Squads:
England Squad: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Jos Buttler(w/c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Reece Topley, Gus Atkinson, Moeen Ali, David Willey, Ben Stokes
Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Rahman, Riaz Hassan, Noor Ahmad
