Navigating their way through extreme pressure moments in their tournament opener, India will be eyeing a perfect game against a sprightly Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup match in Delhi on Wednesday.
Shivam Dube smashed a quickfire half-century to power India to a thumping six-wicket victory against Afghanistan in the first T20 International.
A desperate Pakistan will be wary of a competent group of Afghanistan spinners' ability to strike hard on an often-gripping Chepauk pitch when the teams meet in the World Cup match in Chennai on Monday
IMAGES from the ICC World Cup match played between Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Dharamsala on Saturday
Their campaign back on track after the humiliating loss in the opener, title holders England would look for a dominating all-round effort against a battered Afghanistan in the World Cup in New Delhi on Sunday, with eyes firmly set on bettering their net run rate.
With the series already in the bag, India will be eager to perfect their freshly-baked T20 template as a team and hope that skipper Rohit Sharma's bat finally fires when they face Afghanistan in the third and last match of the rubber in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
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.
New Zealand face England-beaters Afghanistan aiming to keep their unbeaten run intact
Afghanistan showed some fight to set a target of 208 runs to win for Australia on Saturday.
Chance for Bangladesh, Afghanistan to produce that one breakout performance
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?
Rajneesh Gupta lists the Afghan players's T20 Internationals records updated after the game against India in the T20 World Cup.
A couple of losses for hosts England has only brightened the 1992 winners' prospects of a semi-final berth.
Afghanistan (6 points) will not only look to secure two points against the Dutch (4 points) but also aim to win big and improve the net run-rate
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.
Afghanistan posted a competitive 156 for 8, courtesy Gurbaz's superb innings.
IMAGES from the T20 World Cup match played between Australia and Afghanistan in Adelaide on Friday.
The Afghanistan cricket team will hope to provide some joy to its people going through tumultuous times back home as it begins its T20 World Cup campaign against a spirited Scotland on Monday.
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.
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.
IMAGES from the Asia Cup match between Bangladesh and Afghanistan played in Lahore on Sunday
Suryakumar Yadav has dropped one spot to fourth place in the latest ICC Men's T20I Players Rankings
Images from the ICC World Cup match between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, in Pune, on Monday.
Rashid came to bowl in the 11th over and put his team in a strong position straightaway by removing the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim (20) and Sabbir Rahman (0) off his first two deliveries. Bangladesh could not recover from the blow and ended at 122 all out in response to Afghanistan's 167 for eight.
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's former coach Lalchand Rajput believes that they can "upset some of the top teams" in mega tournament, primarily banking on their spinners.
Eager to keep their semi-final hopes alive, a desperate Bangladesh will have their work cut out when they take on a spirited Afghanistan in a do-or-die World Cup encounter in Southampton on Monday. England's defeat at the hands of Sri Lanka on Friday breathed air into Bangladesh's hopes of securing a semi-final berth and the 'Tigers' will be keen on making the most of the situation starting with a win over the bottom-placed Afghanistan.
India vice-captain Rohit Sharma says R Ashwin's presence in the playing XI is always an advantage as the seasoned off-spinner is on the lookout for wickets at all times.
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.
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.
Minnows Afghanistan scripted history as they defeated 2012 champions West Indies by six runs in their final group league encounter of the ICC World Twenty20 in Nagpur to sign off on a memorable note.
A win for New Zealand against Afghanistan would end India's hopes of advancing to the semi-finals at the T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan would look to shrug off the defeat against Pakistan and return to winning ways when they take on debutants Namibia, who will be eager to continue their dream run in the T20 World Cup, Dubai on Sunday.
India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Bangladesh can beat each other on their day
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.
The player draft for the much-awaited Global T20 Canada 2023 was held in a hybrid-form in Mumbai.
Photos of the World Cup Pool A game between Afghanistan and New Zealand being played in Napier
