Tag: Afghanistan

Afghanistan have announced top-order batter Hazratullah Zazai as the replacement for injured off-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 squad.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman featured in Afghanistan’s tournament opener against Uganda, however, a recurrence of the index finger injury kept him out of the following games against New Zealand and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

The off-spinner also missed the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 due to the same injury and is now out of the ongoing tournament after confirmation from the ICC.

The ICC Event Technical Committee approved Afghanistan’s request to replace the off-spinner with Zazai, who was with the squad as a travelling reserve.

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Zazai played the last of his 43 T20Is in February against Sri Lanka. He has scored 1138 runs in the format at a strike rate of 133.09.

It is worth mentioning here that Afghanistan qualified for the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup 2024 after emerging victorious in all three of their fixtures in the group stage.

They are leading Group C standings of the 20-team tournament with six points, closely followed by West Indies, who boasts a similar record but an inferior net run rate.

Afghanistan Squad for T20 World Cup

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangyal Kharoti, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik

READ: Ruthless New Zealand decimate Uganda to register first win in T20 World Cup

TAROUBA: Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott expressed confidence in his team’s ability to excel in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

An all-round performance on Thursday led Afghanistan to thrash Papua New Guinea (PNG) by seven wickets and into the Super 8s stage of the 20-team tournament.

Afghanistan are currently unbeaten in the mega event, emerging victorious in all three of their fixtures thus far.

Meanwhile, their head coach Jonathan Trott highlighted the talent; his team possesses before claiming that the side has not played their best game.

“I believe we’re very, very talented and when we play our best cricket, we can take on anyone. We’ve seen that,” Trott said after Afghanistan’s victory over PNG.

“I feel that we still haven’t played our best game. There’s still things we need to work on and we’ll be working on those over the next few days to give ourselves the best chance to beat the major teams,” he added.

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Trott was delighted with Afghanistan’s qualification for the Super 8s but acknowledged that the team has not won anything yet.

“We still have one game left, an important group game, and that’s going to be a good gauge of where we are against a powerful West Indies side who won an incredible game last night (against New Zealand) from the position they were in,” he added.

“So, it’s nice to have won tonight and got qualification as such. To come to a World Cup and win three is a nice feeling, but also the realisation and reality that we haven’t won anything yet.

“We only achieved the group stage and we’ve got some important cricket matches coming up which we’re going to have to play well in.”

It is worth mentioning here that Afghanistan lead Group C standings of the T20 World Cup 2024 with six points in three matches, closely followed by West Indies, who boasts a similar record but an inferior net run rate.

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TAROUBA: Fazalhaq Farooqi took three wickets, while Gulbadin Naib scored an unbeaten 49 to guide Afghanistan to victory over Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the 29th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here on Thursday.

The seven-wicket victory propelled Afghanistan to the Super 8 stage of the ongoing mega event.

Chasing a meagre 96-run target, Afghanistan failed to get the desired start as they lost both opening batters in 2.5 overs with 22 runs on the board.

Gulbadin Naib knitted a 33-run partnership with Azmatullah Omarzai (13) to stabilize Afghanistan’s innings but Norman Vanua dismissed the latter to break the momentum.

Mohammad Nabi joined Naib and together they raised an unbeaten 46-run partnership to take their side across the line.

Nabi played an anchor role while Naib switched gears to deny any chance of PNG’s comeback as he finished the game with a six.

Naib played an unbeaten knock of 49 runs from 36 balls with the help of six boundaries, including two sixes. Nabi scored 16 off 23.

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For PNG, Vanua, Alei Nao and Semo Kamea picked one wicket each.

Sent into bat first, PNG were bundled out for a meagre 95 in 19.5 overs. Farooqi once again shone with the new ball as picked back-to-back wickets in the third over.

PNG failed to recover from the early blow and kept losing wickets at an alarming rate, slipping to 50-7 in 12.1 overs.

Kiplin Doriga and Alei Nao showed some resistance as they raised 38 runs for the eighth wicket before Noor Ahmed dismissed the former.

Doriga top-scored with a scratchy 27-run knock from 32 balls, featuring two boundaries.

Farooqi returned to dismiss Nao (13), while last-man Semo Kamea got run-out on the penultimate ball as PNG booked for 95.

For Afghanistan, Farooqi claimed figures of 3-16, while Naveen-ul-Haq picked two wickets for four runs.

READ: England blow away Oman to push for Super 8s qualification

TAROUBA: Afghanistan have won the toss and elected to field first against Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the 29th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Brian Lara Stadium on Thursday.

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

Papua New Guinea: Assad Vala (c), Tony Ura, Sese Bau, Lega Siaka, Hiri Hiri, Kiplin Doriga (wk), Chad Soper, Norman Vanua, Alei Nao, John Kariko, Semo Kamea

READ: England blow away Oman to push for Super 8s qualification

GUYANA: Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s blistering knock, followed by a brilliant bowling performance helped Afghanistan register a stunning upset victory over New Zealand in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 at Providence Stadium here on Friday.

Set to chase 160, New Zealand bundled out for a meagre 75 in 15.2 overs, with only two batters reaching the double figures.

Fazalhaq Farooqi wreaked havoc with the new ball as he bowled Finn Allen on the first ball of the innings, followed by two more wickets in his next two overs to reduce the Kiwi side to 28-3 in 4.2 overs.

Skipper Rashid Khan replaced Farooqi and carried the momentum, dismissing his counterpart Kane Williamson. In his next over, Khan picked back-to-back wickets of Mark Chapman and Michael Bracewell, further breaking the Kiwi’s back.

Glenn Phillips top-scored for New Zealand with a run-a-ball 18. Meanwhile, Matt Henry played a 12-run cameo before falling prey to Farooqi to finish the game.

Farooqi and Khan picked four wickets each, whereas Mohammad Nabi claimed two.

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Earlier, Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a decent start after being invited to bat, scoring 44 runs in the powerplay. However, New Zealand bowlers slowed them down after the field restrictions were lifted.

Afghanistan managed 11 runs in the next overs before switching gears in the 11th over, which was bowled by Michael Bracewell. Gurbaz and Zadran collected 21 runs from this over, including three sixes.

Gurbaz attacked the bowlers, while Zadran played more of a supporting act before Matt Henry broke the 103-run opening pair in the 15th over.

Zadran departed after scoring 44 off 41 with the help of five boundaries, including two sixes.

Azmatullah Omarzai joined Gurbaz and scored a quick 22 off 13 with two sixes before Henry sent him back to the pavilion.

Gurbaz continued to attack before Trent Boult castled him in the final over after he scored 80 runs from 56 balls with the help of five boundaries and as many sixes.

Boult bowled a brilliant last over giving away only three runs and picked two wickets restricting Afghanistan to 159-6. He and Henry both claimed two wickets each while Lockie Ferguson managed one.

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GUYANA: New Zealand have won the toss and chose to field first against Afghanistan in the 14th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 at Providence Stadium here on Friday.

Playing XIs

GUYANA: Uganda won the toss and elected to field first against Afghanistan in the fifth match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 here at Providence Stadium on Monday.

PLAYING XIs

Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

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Uganda: Simon Ssesazi (wk), Roger Mukasa, Ronak Patel, Riazat Ali Shah, Dinesh Nakrani, Alpesh Ramjani, Robinson Obuya, Brian Masaba, Bilal Hassan, Cosmas Kweyuta, Henry Ssenyondo

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Afghanistan Tuesday roped in former West Indian all-rounder and the leading wicket-taker in T20s Dwayne Bravo as their bowling consultant for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) said Bravo will be an asset for the team.

“West Indian World Cup winner Bravo has been appointed as bowling consultant and will join the squad during the preparation camp ahead of the marquee event,” the ACB release said.

Most members of the Afghanistan team have reached the Caribbean for a 10-day preparatory camp where Dwayne Bravo will also join them.

The 40-year-old is currently the leading wicket-taker in T20 cricket with 625 wickets in 573 games and was regarded as one of the pioneers of bowling in the shortest format.

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Afghanistan will play warm-up games against Oman on May 29 and Scotland two days later.

They are in a tough Group C with co-hosts West Indies, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Uganda.

Afghanistan will start their T20 World Cup 2024 campaign against Uganda on June 5 in Guyana.

The 20 competing teams are divided in four groups of five teams with the top two in each progressing to the Super Eight stage.

The ninth edition of the T20 World Cup will be played in the United States and the West Indies from June 1-29.

Afghanistan Squad for T20 World Cup: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik

Reserves: Sediq Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Saleem Safi

READ: Babar Azam settles opening pair debate for T20 World Cup 2024

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Tuesday that it will go ahead with a Test match against Afghanistan in September, a month after Australia scrapped a T20I series against the same opponents.

Cricket Australia (CA) postponed a three-match series due to take place in August at a neutral venue, saying the situation for women in the Taliban-ruled country was deteriorating.

It was the third time since 2021 that Australia have refused to play Afghanistan outside of international tournaments.

However, New Zealand said they will play a one-off Test against Afghanistan at a venue yet to be decided.

They also face Afghanistan in their opening T20 World Cup 2024 match in the West Indies in June.

New Zealand Cricket said the decision to go ahead had been taken after discussions at board level and with the players’ association.

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“The consensus view was that a boycott in isolation would change nothing in Afghanistan,” said NZC spokesman Richard Boock.

“It would be more constructive to keep dialogue and participation channels open, while continuing to advocate strongly for change,”

Cricket has surged in popularity inside Afghanistan in recent years, fuelled by triumphs over bigger nations on the international stage.

But under the Taliban’s brand of Islamic rule, women are effectively barred from the game.

Afghanistan also usually play their “home” fixtures at neutral venues, mainly in the UAE.

“NZC strongly believes that cricket is a game for everyone and would like to see far greater support for the women’s game in Afghanistan in the short to medium term,” Boock said.

READ: Rishabh Pant back in India squad for ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024