World Cup 2019: Afghanistan's World Cup review

This was Afghanistan's second World Cup campaign and a lot of excitement was building amongst both Afghanistan and cricket fans all over the world alike. The likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman were household names in the T20 circuit and they were expected to continue with their exploits in England.

However, two months prior to the World Cup, Afghanistan shockingly sacked Asghar Afghan as captain as Gulbadin Naib was chosen to lead the team in the World Cup and beyond. In spite of this, Afghanistan started off their time in England with a confidence-boosting win over Pakistan in the first warm-up match. Unfortunately, that confidence didn't translate to the main tournament as Afghanistan failed to put up competitive totals on a consistent basis. Their batsmen only managed to score 6 fifties out of which none were converted into a hundred.

It was only in the latter half of the tournament that Afghanistan started to put in respectable performances as the pitches favoured their style of play. The #10 ranked team managed to get to the brink of historic wins against India, Pakistan and West Indies but inexperience meant that they didn't manage to get over the line. As a result, the rising team finished with zero points in the World Cup.

Best Player

Afghanistan's best player from the World Cup could be one among Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi.

The 25-year old Rahmat Shah had an impressive yet frustrating campaign. A lot of experts appreciated Rahmat's classy strokeplay but his tendency to throw away attractive starts was also under the scanner. Despite being untroubled throughout the World Cup, Rahmat found a way to get dismissed in soft ways. This is reflected in the fact that he managed to score only one fifty in 9 matches.

While Rahmat Shah wasted his chances, Najibullah Zadran didn't receive enough to express his ability in the World Cup. Najibullah was probably the most fluent Afghanistan batsman in the initial matches but he was shockingly dropped for the match against South Africa. Even though he played all the other eight matches, Afghanistan constantly underutilised the southpaw by slotting him at No. 7 or even 8. He eventually ended the World Cup with 230 runs from 8 matches.

In terms of Afghanistan's bowling attack, there were a few decent individual performances, but no one was as consistent as the experienced Mohammad Nabi. He took 10 wickets while also controlling the run flow by conceding just 4.61 runs per over.

Afghanistan v West Indies - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Underperformers

Clearly, Rashid Khan was the biggest disappointment for Afghanistan in the World Cup. Fans and experts expected Afghanistan's hopes to be on Rashid's shoulder, but the 20-year old couldn't make much of an impact with both ball and bat. Bowling wise, Rashid was highly erratic with his length as he either bowled too short or overcompensated by providing slot deliveries.

Given his useful contributions with the bat for both Afghanistan and the various T20 teams he was part of, Rashid was required to chip in with important cameos down the order. However, Rashid failed to do that too, whenever Afghanistan were in trouble. He swung and missed more than the number of runs he scored.

Interestingly, Mohammad Nabi can also be considered an underperformer given his paltry returns with the bat. Nabi only 107 runs from 9 games and that is very poor considering his potential with the bat.

Areas to work upon

Afghanistan have to work on quite a few important aspects of the limited overs game. The team's fielding was seriously under par when compared to the general standards in the World Cup. Even some excellent fielders like Rashid Khan and Najibullah Zadran misfielded and dropped catches on quite a few occasions.

Another aspect to improve will be the ability to convert starts to something substantial. Overall, Afghanistan batsmen got out for scores between 20-50 on 29 occasions in the World Cup. These batsmen also have to find a balance between big-hitting and playing safely. Good strike rotation will help to find the balance as Afghanistan batsmen tend to get into a shell after scoring few runs. This pressure then makes them play poor shots and they lose their wickets as a result.

Bangladesh v Afghanistan - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Strange decisions from Afghanistan and Gulbadin Naib

First of all, the controversy involving Mohammad Shahzad was strange for people outside the Afghanistan team management. Shahzad was ruled out of the World Cup after Afghanistan's second game against Sri Lanka. However, the wicket-keeper batsman went back to Afghanistan and alleged that he was sent back despite being fully fit.

Further, the usage of Najibullah Zadran and Ikram Ikram Ali Khil surprised many viewers. Both the batsmen were underutilised by batting them at positions like No. 8 and No. 9. While Najibullah showed his quality throughout the World Cup, Ali Khil showcased his potential with 86 runs against West Indies after he was promoted to No.3

Gulbadin Naib's decision to over bowl himself at important positions also cost the team quite a bit. Naib decided to bring himself on when Pakistan required 46 runs off 30 balls. The skipper went on to conceded 18 runs in that over and Afghanistan suffered as a result.

Another strange decision was to give veteran Hamid Hassan a farewell game in the team's penultimate World Cup match against Pakistan. Hamid couldn't even finish the match because he pulled up with a hamstring injury after bowling just 2 overs.