"Overly dependent on..." - Aakash Chopra exposes Afghanistan's major weakness ahead of semi-final clash against South Africa

Afghanistan will play the first semi-final against South Africa in Trinidad on June 27. This is the first time Afghanistan are playing in a World Cup semi-final.

Previously they qualified for the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup also for the first time. They have been the giant killers in this World Cup so far eliminating teams like New Zealand and Australia.

There has been a definite pattern in how Afghanistan have gone about playing the matches in this World Cup. They have been a better team batting first and they scored more runs and won games when their openers have scored runs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (281) and Ibrahim Zadran (229) are among the top three run-getters in this World Cup so far.

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Aakash Chopra in his preview of this game spoke about a major problem in the Afghanistan batting lineup heading into the semi-final.

"Afghanistan have a good team that has been playing with great passion. Their bowling is excellent and that's where they will try to catch South Africa. They remain in low-scoring, 120 to 140-run, matches. In batting, you feel the gap has widened on a flat pitch. They come closer when it's not a flat pitch," he said.

"However, they are overly dependent on their openers. If Gurbaz and Zadran do well, this team is able to score runs with confidence. However, they collapse if their openers don't do well. Gulbadin Naib has played one knock down the order. No one else has scored runs. They have moved players up and down the order and in and out of the team but the runs haven't come," Chopra added further.

Batting Is A Concern For Afghanistan: Aakash Chopra

He further said that the South African new-ball bowlers might pose problems to the Afghanistan openers and they could eventually post a below-par total not enough to challenge the Proteas.

"So batting is a concern, how they will negotiate the fast bowling, especially the new ball. If they become 20/2, they might be restricted to 110-115 once again. They have won all low-scoring games but they might find themselves on the wrong side of the result in this low-scoring game because this pitch might not be that much to their liking," he elaborated.

The former Indian opener backed the Afghanistan new-ball bowlers to deliver. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-Ul-Haq have taken 16 and 13 wickets respectively in the tournament.

"However, what works in their favor - bowling. Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq are at the top of their game suddenly. This World Cup has been in their names. Then come Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad. Gulbadin Naib does his job and they have Mohammad Nabi. So this team has an incredible bowling lineup," he observed.

Chopra concluded by saying that Rashid Khan and Afghanistan's fighting spirit might make the game interesting adding that the support of the Afghanistan fans will be a major boost for the players.

"They have one more thing. They don't get scared. They are fighters. They say this is just a World Cup game, they have battled life. When such a team doesn't have anything to lose, they have the entire world to gain. They also know the Afghanistan public doesn't get much to be happy about and if they do well, they will become very happy. So there is a larger purpose to play," Chopra concluded saying.

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