Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of T20 World Cup 2024 after Game 48.
Rashid Khan took a big leap towards becoming the quickest bowler to 100 ODI wickets when he grabbed his fourth five-wicket haul as Afghanistan overcame a top-order batting collapse to prevail over the United Arab Emirates in a Super Six fixture of the ICC World Cup Qualifier, in Harare, on Tuesday.
Will the young gun survive Virat Kohli's comeback?
Rohit, who will also captain the side, will be expected to carry on with his ultra aggressive approach in the powerplay like he showed in the ODI World Cup.
No other spinner headed into the World Cup with a burden of expectation heavier than the one on Rashid Khan's shoulders. But seven matches into the tournament and the poster boy of Afghan cricket is buckling under the weight.
Images from the T20 World Cup match between Afghanistan and New Zealand, in Abu Dhabi, on Sunday.
Fraser-McGurk, Stubbs or Samson? Pick your best batters
Spinner Rashid Khan celebrated his 20th birthday in style by producing a stunning all-round display as Afghanistan beat Bangladesh by 136 runs in an Asia Cup match in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Abhishek Porel and Tristan Stubbs struck half-centuries for Delhi Capitals in their final league game of the season.
Afghanistan qualified for next year's cricket World Cup as captain Asghar Stanikzai played through the pain barrier to produce a heroic innings and lead them to a five-wicket victory over Ireland on Friday.
Afghanistan fared only slightly better against defending champions Australia in their opener, losing by seven wickets, but Malinga is not taking them lightly.
Veteran Indian spinner Ashwin scalped the wickets of Gulbadin Naib and Najibullah Zadran and gave away just 14 runs in his entire spell, as India's thrashed Afghanistan by 66 runs in a Group 2 match of the Super 12 stage in the T20 World Cup, at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday..
Mahmudullah and Kayes lift Bangladesh to 249/7 after poor start
Teen sensation Rashid Khan and fellow spinners Mujeeb ur Rahman, Zahir Khan and Hamza Hotak have been named in the 16-member Afghanistan squad for the inaugural one-off Test match against India, starting in Bengaluru, from June 14.
England cruised to a nine-wicket victory over Afghanistan in their final World Cup warm-up at The Oval on Monday after a Jofra Archer-led bowling attack restricted the underdogs to 160.
West Indies won the battle of the ICC World Cup's basement dwellers, beating Afghanistan by 23 runs in their final group match at Headingley on Thursday.
Images from Monday's World Cup match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, in Southampton.
A win for New Zealand against Afghanistan would end India's hopes of advancing to the semi-finals at the T20 World Cup.
'I was confident pre-tournament itself that he would deliver when needed.'
Rashid Khan opens up on the Afghanistan captaincy controversy and facing criticism against his bowling
Simmons, who took over the position in December 2017, said he has achieved his target of taking Afghanistan to the World Cup and the time is ripe for him to leave.
None other than India skipper Virat Kohli acknowledged Afghanistan's rapid rise in the last four years.
Down and out, the two bottom-placed teams know that this will be their best chance to post their first win in the ongoing 50-over showpiece.
Opener Mohammad Shahzad top-scored with a sparkling 39-ball 61 as Afghanistan defeated Scotland by 14 runs in their ICC World Twenty20 qualifying game in Nagpur on Tuesday. Opting to bat, Afghanistan made a formidable 170 for five in the stipulated 20 overs, and restricted their opponents to 156 for five. Shahzad's breezy knock included five boundaries and three sixes. Skipper Asghar Stanikzai remained unbeaten on a steady 55 off 50 balls. He found the fence two times and cleared it once, dropping anchor at one end even though he looked far from convincing after the dismissal of Shahzad at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. The highlight of Afghanistan innings was undoubtedly the knock played by Shahzad and his 82-run second-wicket partnership with Stanikzai. While opener Noor Ali Zardan (17) missed out after getting a start, Gulbadin Naib (12) fell to an outstanding catch by Josh Davey. Shafiqullah then blazed his way to 15 off just five balls as Afghanistan reached a total that looked steep for Scotland, still seeking their first win over their rivals.
Disappointed with India's slow batting in Saturday's World Cup match against Afghanistan, batting icon Sachin Tendulkar said the middle-order batsmen, particularly Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav, lacked positive intent.
Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi are a spin-bowling unit the equal of any in the world
Opting to bat after winning the toss, India struggled on a slow pitch and crawled to 224-8 with Virat Kohli (67) and Kedar Jadhav (52) managing half-centuries against a disciplined Afghan attack.
Sri Lanka defeated Afghanistan by 34 runs in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup match at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff on Tuesday.
India finally made their presence felt as they thrashed Afghanistan by 66 runs on Wednesday to keep alive their slim hopes of reaching the Twenty20 World Cup semi-finals.
Kedar Jadhav claimed he never lost faith in India's bowlers to deliver victory in a last-over thriller with Afghanistan. Jadhav's careful half century, alongside captain Virat Kohli's 67, were the two highlights in a difficult day at the crease for India's batsmen in their latest ICC Men's Cricket World Cup clash at the Hampshire Bowl.
'I still don't know why I was ruled unfit when I was fit enough to play'
Bangladesh spinners, led by Shakib Al Hasan, guided their side to a thumping nine-wicket win against Afghanistan in their Qualifying Group A match of the ICC World T20 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium on Sunday. Later, Debutants Nepal produced a dominating all-round performance to crush Hong Kong by 80 runs in another qualifying Group A match.
Afghanistan has shown great promise in taking its game to the next level, as its journey from the lower divisions to competing on cricket's biggest stages testifies. Since the ICC World Cup 2015, Afghanistan has won 25 of 44 games across formats. That includes 11 Twenty20 Internationals wins in 13 matches. Those statistics, and the fact that it has never lost a T20I to Scotland, will give Afghanistan a mental boost when the two sides lock horns in Tuesday's (March 8)second Group B match at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. Afghanistan certainly has all the ingredients to beat Scotland and this contest should be a keenly fought one.
Eight teams have formed some of the best combinations from a pool of 64 top cricketers in the players' draft for T10League -- the limited ten-over format cricket -- that will be played at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Lost in transition, defending champions Sri Lanka will look to come out of the rut and start well against a spirited Afghanistan in their World Twenty20 Super 10 opener at Eden Gardens on Thursday. The defending champions, who were also runners-up in 2009 and 2012, have managed to win only four of their 14 matches since they beat India to win the 2014 edition in Mirpur. They are in the middle of a transition phase after Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene's exit. The build-up to the tournament was also forgettable with series defeats in New Zealand and India followed by an early ouster in Asia Cup. To add to the misery, their 2014 WT20 winning skipper Lasith Malinga has stepped down as leader of the team, following concern over his slow recovery from a knee injury. Now Test and ODI skipper Angelo Mathews' task is cutout. Having joined the squad on Tuesday, Malinga is a doubtful starter for the match. His presence in the team would impact the team a lot.
The Asia Cup to be played in Bangladesh from February 24, will be played in the T20 format for the first time in the tournament's history. The tournament which precedes the vital World T20 to be held in in India in March, has a rich history with India and Sri Lanka winning it five times each. Pakistan have been victorious on two occasions while Bangladesh's best finish has been their runner-up performance in the 2012 edition. Team India will be led by MS Dhoni and the tournament will also see Virat Kohli returning after taking a break from the recently concluded three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka. Dhoni will be chasing history to become the most successful skipper in the tournament history. The Indian skipper and former Lankan captain Arjuna Ranatunga have both recorded same number of nine victories and four defeats in the Asia Cup All the matches will be played at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. The qualifying rounds involving Afghanistan, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Oman has begun from Friday.
Afghanistan's controversial campaign, marred by poor on and off-field decisions, has gone from bad to worse. They now face the onerous task of squaring off against a galaxy of world class players, whose performance graph is on the upswing.
Neesham, a batting all-rounder, rocked the Afghanistan innings by his incisive bowling and in the process returned with his career-best figures of 5/31 from his 10 overs. His earlier best was 4/42.
Thisara admitted his side were far from perfect after another batting disaster, he insisted they always knew they had a chance of success if their bowlers stepped up.
Images from the the T20 World Cup Super 12s match between Afghanistan and Namibia, in Abu Dhabi, on Sunday.
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