The skills and maturity of Afghanistans impressive batsmen will be put to the test in Group 2 of the Super 12 of the T20 World Cup in the face of a strong Pakistan bowling attack buoyed by two consecutive wins. Wins over India and New Zealand have boosted Pakistans morale but there has been a sudden change in their performance which Afghanistan can take advantage of.
The Babar Azam-led side will certainly start as the contenders to win the match but Afghanistan cannot be taken lightly. He is capable of challenging any team in the presence of batsmen with crisp shots and world-class spinners. Afghanistans batsmen dominated the Scottish bowlers in the previous match with their powerful shots but now they face an attack that is considered to be the most dangerous in the competition.
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Afghanistan batsmen cannot blindly bat in front of Pakistan bowlers and they have to bat carefully. If Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Najibullah Zadran are adept at setting shots all around the field, then world-class spinners like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb-ur Rahman make Afghanistan a very balanced team.
For Afghanistan, winning the toss and batting first would be the best option as Rashid and Mujeeb have the ability to curb even the best batsmen in the world. After that, the batsmen can strategize according to the conditions. They dont lack the spirit but they dont have the experience to handle the pressure of big matches.
The way Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali, and Haris Rauf have troubled the batsmen so far, it can be said that Afghanistans batsmen will be tested hard against this trio of fast bowling Pakistan. Apart from this, Pakistans spin department has experienced off-spinners Mohammad Hafeez, Imad Wasim, and Shadab Khan, making the challenge for Afghanistan very tough. In such a situation, if Afghanistan has to win the match, then its bowlers will have to put pressure on the Pakistani batsmen.
Captain Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have played a good role in Pakistans top order so far. If both fail, Fakhar Zaman and Mohammad Hafeez will have to take charge. A third consecutive win will boost Pakistans hopes of reaching the semi-finals as they will then face relatively weaker teams like Scotland and Namibia.
Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi (c), Asghar Afghan, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Rashid Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Today the 24th match of T20 World Cup 2021 will be played between Pakistan and Afghanistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The match will start at 7:30 pm. Babar Azam-led Pakistan team is in excellent form at the moment and has defeated India and New Zealand in the first two matches. On the other hand, Mohammad Nabi-led Afghanistan started their campaign with a bang in the T20 World Cup 2021 and defeated Scotland by a huge margin of 130 runs. If both the teams are face to face today, then the match is expected to be very exciting. If the Afghanistan team beats Pakistan, then they will be removed from the top because their run rate is superb.
The high-scoring match can be seen between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Dubai is the only pitch that has been seen making big scores many times. By the way, the fast bowlers have also got a good advantage from the pitch here. Spinners have also spread their flair from time to time. So the great thing is that a good match can be seen between the ball and the bat. Whichever of the two teams becomes the boss of the toss, he will choose to bowl first. Due to dew in the second innings, the batting team will get a lot of advantage.
It is summertime in Dubai and the Pakistan-Afghanistan match is to be played in the evening on Friday. It is expected that in the evening time, there is a hope of getting some relief from the heat. However, the players will face the challenge of humidity at the time of the match. The temperature in Sharjah will be around 42°C during the day and drop to 35°C in the evening. The sky will remain clear during the match and there is no chance of rain.
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Humidity is likely to remain around 58 per cent and wind speed can reach 21 kmph. It is worth noting that during the second innings, there may be trouble due to dew. In such a situation, the team winning the toss can opt to bowl first.
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