Best Afghanistan Playing XI For ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022

Best Afghanistan Playing XI For ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Mohammad Nabi was announced as the captain of the Afghanistan squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. Afghanistan has named its 15-member squad for the T20 World Cup, which begins in Australia on 16 October.

Of the 17 players, who were a part of the Afghanistan squad for the Asia Cup 2022, Samiullah Shinwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat and Noor Ahmad are not included, while Darwish Rasooli, Qais Ahmad and Salim Safi made it to the 15-member cut.

In addition, Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah and Gulbadin Naib have been added to the squad as reserves. 22-year-old Darwish Rasooli, who made his international debut earlier this year, made an entry after recovering from a finger injury and churning out impressive performances in the Shpageeza Cricket League 2022. Qais Ahmad returned to the squad, having played his last T20I match in March 2022, while 20-year-old Salim Safi has secured his maiden international call-up.

Afghanistan Squad: Mohammad Nabi (c), Najibullah Zadran (vc), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Azmatullah Omarzai, Darwish Rasooli, Farid Ahmad Malik, Fazal Haq Farooqi, Hazratullah Zazai, Ibrahim Zadran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Naveen ul Haq, Qais Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Salim Safi, Usman Ghani

Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Rahmat Shah, Gulbadin Naib

Afghanistan are placed in Group 1 of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 along with defending champions Australia, New Zealand and England. Also, the winners of Group A and the runners-up of Group B will join Group 1.  Mohammad Nabi’s side will begin their campaign with a contest against heavyweights England on the opening day of the Super 12 stage at the Perth Stadium-October 22.

The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) marks the sole venue where Afghanistan will play twice against New Zealand-October 26 and the Runners-up of Group B-October 28 during the Super 12 of the T20 World Cup 2022. Afghanistan will then play against Winners of Group A at Gabba, Brisbane-November 1 and Australia at Adelaide-November 4.

Best Afghanistan Playing XI For ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 

Rahmanullah Gurbaz

Rahmanullah Gurbaz will be the preferred opener for the 2022 T20I World Cup due to the promising start to his career in the international arena. The young player may quickly eliminate the opposition’s momentum and can produce strong starts while batting as the top-order batter in the opening slot. He was the 7th highest run-getter in the Asia Cup 2022 with 152 runs in 5 T20Is averaging 30.4.

Hazratullah Zazai

Hazratullah Zazai is anticipated to start the batting lineup for the 2022 T20I World Cup alongside Rahmanullah Gurbaz. The 24-year-old would frequently use the aerial route and may occasionally play a big game. Thus he might as well prove to be the team’s standout player.

He scored 162* against Ireland in 2019, the 2nd highest T20I score after Australian Aaron Finch (172). He scored 94 runs in 5 T20Is in Asia Cup 2022 averaging 23.5.

Ibrahim Zadran

Ibrahim Zadran made his ODI debut on 11 November 2019 and T20I debut on 14 November 2019 against the Windies. He was the 3rd highest run-getter in Asia Cup 2022 with 196 runs in 5 T20Is averaging 65.33. He was Afghanistan’s leading run-getter.

Najibullah Zadran

Najibullah Zadran is among the most lethal T20 batters currently active, and he has a huge amount of expertise in the field. Najibullah Zadran can easily clear the ropes and will play a significant role in the fourth position. He managed 72 runs in 5 T20Is but at a strike rate of 171.43-the 2nd highest strike rate.

Usman Ghani

One of the most exciting new talents to emerge from Afghanistan’s cricket programmes in recent years, intrepid opening batsman Usman Ghani was good enough to play one-day international cricket for Afghanistan well before his 18th birthday. He has amassed 705 runs in 30 T20Is averaging 27.11 after debuting in the shortest format against Zimbabwe in 2015. He has also played 17 ODIs where he scored 1 ton and 2 fifties. He has scored 4 fifties in T20Is.

Darwish Rasooli

Darwish Rasooli has played 4 T20Is where he scored 34 runs after debuting this year against Bangladesh. The top-order batter may play in the middle order as the Afghanistan side is packed with in-form openers. Azmatullah Omarzai, the right-arm batter and the medium pacer is other options.

Mohammad Nabi

One of the finest all-rounders in the short-format game, Mohammad Nabi is highly potent with the bat and the ball. The 37-year-old is thrifty with the ball during the powerplay overs and has a batting strike rate of about 140 in T20Is.

He led the Afghanistan team in the Asia Cup 2022 but failed with the bat scoring only 16 runs averaging 4 in 4 innings playing 5 T20Is. He also picked 3 scalps but averaged 42.33.

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan is now the strongest T20I spinner available, and he can win matches all by himself for his team. He has significantly improved as a batter and appears to be much more formidable as the game moves into its final overs.

He has been a force to reckon with in the T20I format, having 118 wickets from 71 games and averaging a mere 13.59 at an exemplary economy of only 6.55. He also has already taken 4 4-wicket and 2 5-wicket hauls in T20Is. He led the Afghan spin attack in the Asia Cup 2022 where he picked 6 scalps averaging 21.83 in 5 T20Is.

Fazalhaq Farooqi

Another rising star who has been spotted by numerous franchises worldwide is Fazalhaq Farooqi, a 21-year-old who already has established a name for himself in T20 Internationals. His numbers in the 20-over format are also decent as he has managed to scalp 18 wickets in 14 games averaging a mere 19.78.

He debuted in Abu Dhabi against Zimbabwe on March 2021. He was MOM in the Asia Cup 2022 opener against Sri Lanka, claiming 3/11 in only 3.4 overs. He picked the vital scalps of Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka and Chamika Karunaratne. The left-arm pacer picked 6 scalps in 5 T20Is in the Asia Cup 2022 averaging 25.33.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Mujeeb Ur Rahman has not been as productive as he could have been at the beginning of his professional career, but he still manages to prevent the flow of runs.

In terms of diversity, the mystery spinner offers a lot, and he will team up with the experienced Rashid Khan to form a strong spin partnership at the Asia Cup 2022. He picked 7 scalps in 5 T20Is averaging 15.86 in Asia Cup 2022. The off-spinner averages 16.58 in T20Is, having picked 45 scalps in 33 T20Is.

Naveen Ul Haq

When fans talk about fast bowlers in the Afghanistan squad, Naveen-ul-Haq is regarded as the team’s future in that department, and he possesses all of the tricks up his sleeve to be successful.

The 22-year-old youngster has been effective in T20Is, taking 28 wickets in 21 T20I matches for an average of 19.46. He picked 1/23 in 3 overs in the Asia Cup 2022 opener against Sri Lanka but was wicketless (0/31) against Bangladesh. He picked 2 scalps against Sri Lanka in the Super 4 match, conceding 40 runs in 4 overs.