Afghanistan vs Pakistan Prediction: Who will win today's T20 World Cup 2021 match?

Afghanistan and Pakistan are no strangers to dealing with adversity. In fact, the two countries can write a book on the struggles they've had to overcome in this calendar year alone.

Incredibly, despite the plethora of issues that would've ruined lesser teams, Afghanistan and Pakistan are two of the most in-form teams in the 2021 T20 World Cup. They face off on Friday, October 29 at the Dubai International Stadium in a Group 2 clash that will have a significant outcome on the semi-final slots. Teams like India and New Zealand, who lost their first game of the Super 12 stage, will have a keen eye on this encounter.

Pakistan have been near-perfect in the T20 World Cup thus far. Despite seeing two of their home series scrapped at the eleventh hour, the Men in Green have made a terrific start to their campaign in the ICC tournament. After thrasing arch-rivals India by 10 wickets, Pakistan cruised to a comfortable win over the Blackcaps to make themselves frontrunners to top the group.

Meanwhile, amidst terrible political tensions back home, Afghanistan have managed to shut out all the noise and play an exciting brand of cricket. Overcoming squad selection issues and a last-minute captaincy change, Mohammad Nabi's men brushed aside Scotland in their opening game of the T20 World Cup.

While Afghanistan and Pakistan are united by their stories of struggle, they are anything but friendly. Two countries that have a long and sometimes unpleasant history with each other, Afghanistan and Pakistan will look to seal not only two points but also bragging rights on Friday.

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T20 World Cup 2021: Future of Group 2 hinges on Afghanistan vs Pakistan clash

Pakistan v Afghanistan - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Can Pakistan keep their winning run in the T20 World Cup going? If anyone can stop the 2009 champions by negating their biggest strengths, it's Afghanistan.

Shaheen Shah Afridi and Imad Wasim have been excellent in the powerplay in the T20 World Cup so far. For any team to challenge Pakistan, they need explosive openers who are willing to play their shots and put pressure on the opposition bowlers. Afghanistan have just that in the form of Mohammad Shahzad and Hazratullah Zazai, and the latter could also feast on Wasim early on.

Moreover, Afghanistan have world-class spinners - spinners who can single-handedly win games on their day. Pakistan are good players of spin in general, but their middle order has come under criticism for struggling against slow bowling in the recent past. With Sohaib Maqsood and Azam Khan missing from the squad, Pakistan's senior middle-order batters will have a serious task on their hands to counter Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan.

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Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan have been among the most successful batters in T20I cricket this calendar year, and Afghanistan are admittedly a bit short in the pace department. They might need to resort to their lead spinners early in the piece, especially if Nabi is reluctant to bowl himself to two right-handers.

Irrespective of the result, a fascinating tactical battle between two well-matched sides beckons in Dubai. Afghanistan's pace shortcomings and Pakistan's middle-order issues could cancel each other out, leaving it to be a straight battle between the strengths of two formidable T20 sides.

This contest, which is frankly too close to call, will come down to which team executes their plans better. Pakistan, who have won each of their two T20 World Cup matches so far, might hold a slight edge due to their lethal bowling attack, which has been in red-hot form.

Prediction: Pakistan to win Match 24 of the T20 World Cup