T20 World Cup 2021: Afghanistan have what it takes to beat New Zealand and churn out a story of their own

Can Afghanistan beat New Zealand? All of India is asking this one question ahead of that all important match on Sunday? Is it mere fandom or is there some justification behind the hope? Do Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and co genuinely have the firepower to overhaul one of the best teams in world cricket led by the best leader of all, Kane Williamson?

Cricketing logic suggests Afghanistan does have a chance. If Mujeeb is fit and playing, he will certainly be a handful in these conditions in the powerplay. In Nabi they have a crafty bowler against the left handers NZ has in the middle order and Rashid is a star on any given day in any condition.

Hamid Hassan has a decent yorker up his sleeve and Naveen Murid has played enough franchise cricket around the world, including the CPL to hold his own against the best. In sum, it is a bowling attack with reasonable prowess in conditions like these, the mauling against India notwithstanding.

What’s more important is how Afghanistan fare with the bat. Shahzad has looked poor in the last few games and Zazai is not consistent enough to inspire confidence. It will boil down to Najib Zadran and of course Nabi to push the pedal and in Karim they have a reasonable finisher at the end of the innings. The key, however, is Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

He is one of the best batters to come out of Afghanistan and is someone ready for the big league. Gurbaz has all the shots and if he can bring his A game to the fore, they do have a chance. When a relatively modest team plays against a top side, the key is for all the players to bring their A game to the fore. Some doing so doesn’t help as Namibia witnessed the other day against New Zealand.

In their last 4 overs they conceded 65 runs and that’s where the match was lost. If Afghanistan have to win, they need to push New Zealand with spin and some top order aggression. Nabi should bat higher up and face more deliveries rather than holding himself back at number 7.

While New Zealand start overwhelming favorites, in conditions where they have played all their cricket, Afghanistan are no pushovers. And, I for one, am expecting a good game on Sunday with a billion people cheering for the Afghans. A win will be the first major upset of this World Cup and needless to say a story by itself.