ICC World Cup: Pakistan to face Afghanistan in Chennai

Pakistan will be up against Afghanistan in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match this afternoon at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The match is scheduled to begin at 02:00 PM.

The two teams have competed against each other on seven occasions in ODIs, with Pakistan emerging winners in all these games.

Pakistan made a winning start to their campaign with back-to-back victories over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. However, they have stumbled in the last two matches with defeats against arch-rivals India and Australia. A win over Afghanistan will put the Babar Azam-led team’s campaign back on track.

Afghanistan has only a solitary win from four matches. However, their only win came against the reigning champions England. Afghanistan, loaded with match-winners like Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, possess an ability to give a scare to any top teams in the competition.

Pakistan are placed fifth in the league table with four points from four matches. A win over their neighbours today, will take them into the top four and put them in contention for the knockouts. Afghanistan, on the other hand, are languishing at the bottom of the league table with two points, following their three defeats in four matches.At the moment, there isn’t a lot going right for Afghanistan at the World Cup.

Almost mid-way through the tournament, despite their historic win against England, they find themselves at the bottom of the table. But as their extended stay in Chennai continues following an insipid performance against New Zealand, they would be licking their wounds in anticipation of the opportunity that presents itself in their next encounter against Pakistan. Having stretched their Asian neighbours close on several occasions, including the last World Cup, the expected spin-friendly conditions of Chennai would be as favourable as it could get for them to end the winless head-to-head run.

The Babar Azam-led side has been a shadow of the team that had clinched the No 1 ODI rankings only last month. While some of their worries, most prominently the poor form of the openers, have resolved, newer concerns have cropped up. Their most potent threat – with the new ball – has been blunted, and how. Since returning from injury in April this year, Shaheen Afridi has averaged 42.50 in the first 10 overs, picking a wicket every 48.8 balls. And the hole left by Naseem Shah’s injury hasn’t been filled up adequately by Hasan Ali with the new ball.

While the opportunity to course-correct that in the Afghanistan clash exists, the issue will be in the spin department. Not only are their spinners not firing, but their batting against spin has also left additional concerns. The collapse against Adam Zampa in the previous game, to follow up on their collapse against India, is alarming even if not just detrimental to plans of executing the Pakistan Way. Given their recent success against Afghanistan in the spin-friendly conditions in Sri Lanka, the team is confident that they can counter Rashid Khan & Co, but it could be their ultimate banana-peel fixture.

But Afghanistan’s coach Jonathan Trott has made it clear that the onus of winning games can’t lie solely on the spinners and they need the batters to come good – post totals and chase totals. Afghanistan may be last on the points table, but there isn’t a lot separating them from Pakistan. A reasonably big win on Monday could not only propel them above their Asian neighbours, but could also find them a place in the top four. It’s that jam-packed a competition.

Both teams have been inconsistent so far in their opening four games – delightful in parts but crumbled and taken apart at crucial times. They bring in some high-level skills, some unexpected blunders and the intensity of a lesser-spoken Asian rivalry; as raw and passionate as any in the game.

Squads:

Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Noor Ahmad, Riaz Hassan, Abdul Rahman, Najibullah Zadran

Pakistan Squad: Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Shaheen Afridi, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Agha Salman