Pakistan vs Afghanistan Cricket World Cup 2023
The clash of the most unpredictable Asian sides! Afghanistan and Pakistan will go head-to-head on 23 October 2023 in Chennai. This is going to be an exciting match. Instead, this is going to be a very entertaining game. Watch the ball-by-ball commentary, predictions, and highlights in this article. Just scroll down to find all the content. We are having a fun time covering the World Cup this time.
Read: ICC Cricket World Cup points table 2023
Pakistan is in hot waters right now. They lost the India vs Pakistan CWC 2023 match quite convincingly. Well, that was a given. But fans were quite disappointed during the Australia vs Pakistan CWC 2023 game. The men in green could have won that match. If you are a Pakistan cricket fan, you must take these things with a ton of salt.
Check: Pakistan Squad for ICC World Cup 2023 [Announced]
Afghanistan found their high time during the England vs Afghanistan CWC 2023 match. But they were pretty humbled by the Kiwis during the New Zealand vs Afghanistan CWC 2023 game. To be honest, they can upset Pakistan today. If you catch my drift, Naseem Shah isn’t on the team to save the Green Shirts.
Related: Afghanistan squad for ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023
Live Streaming
Afghanistan cricket fans, get ready in front of the TV screens with your Kabuli Pulao and the roasted mutton because the game is on. And you can enjoy the game with Ariana TV live streaming. Pakistan cricket fans can get all the snacks and start watching live matches on platforms like Shoq, Daraz, and Tamasha.
Read: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Live Streaming
However, the fans from both countries live in MENA countries, too. And the fans there can watch the matches live on Starzplay.
Match preview – AFG vs PAK
Probable playing 11
Here are the probably 11s for both teams.
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil(w), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Read: 2023 Cricket World Cup Commentary Panel
Pakistan: Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmad, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali
Pitch report
It’s a Chennai pitch, and you will see the likes of Rashid Khan and probably Shadab Khan and Usama Mir on the pitch. Things are going to get ugly for the batters. They undoubtedly will get ugly. Especially when there are Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmad in a team, you are bound to get some good setups and upsetting wickets, for Pakistan fans mostly.
Check: List of Cricket World Cup 2023 Captains
I won’t go into the details of how this pitch behaves. You all will get too bored with that stuff. Just bear this in mind; you will see a lot of turns here.
Key players
For Afghanistan, Rashid and Nabi are going to be their key players. You can smell a Babar Azam wicket from a mile away when you know he will face Rashid Khan. And if this leggie can claim his wicket, things will get difficult for the men in green. With his immaculate offspin and hostile batting, Mohammad Nabi will be crucial for the Afghanis.
Read: ICC Cricket World Cup Winners 1975-2019
From Pakistan’s perspective, Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan become the key batters. You cannot depend on Babar Azam when he has such a horrendous form. Usama Mir and Haris Rauf will be lethal from the bowler’s side. Especially Haris Rauf. We all saw how his yorkers defined Pakistan’s win against the Dutch. He is going to be the X factor here.
Possible strategies
Win the toss and play first. You do not want to chase here. When each team has spinners that can turn the ball and mislead you on each delivery, you do not want to have that scorecard pressure. Rashid and Usama will be the players to look out for. Hence, the smart thing will be not to give them wickets, give them respect, and hit the pacers on every wrong delivery. This is the sort of pitch you play some old-school ODI strategies.
Prediction
Pakistan is going to win the match. But the probability is 65%. You have to give Afghanistan a fair chance since they can bowl the Green Shirts out and hit them for sixers.
But in the end, Pakistan has always managed to win. And they will want to win this time as well.
Highlights
Pakistan won the toss, and they chose to bat. There were some exciting changes in the playing 11.
| PAKISTAN | AFGHANISTAN |
|---|---|
| Imam-ul-Haq | Ibrahim Zadran |
| Abdullah Shafique | Rahmat Shah |
| Babar Azam | Rahmanullah Gurbaz |
| Mohammad Rizwan | Hashmatullah Shahidi |
| Saud Shakeel | Azmatullah Omarzai |
| Iftikhar Ahmad | Ikram Alikhil |
| Shadab Khan | Mohammad Nabi |
| Usama Mir | Rashid Khan |
| Shaheen Shah Afridi | Mujeeb-ur-Rahman |
| Hasan Ali | Noor Ahmad |
| Haris Rauf | Naveen-ul-Haq |
First Innings – Pakistan
| PAKISTAN 282-7 (50 overs) | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Babar Azam 74 (92) | Noor Ahmad 3-49 |
| Abdullah Shafique 58 (75) | Naveen-ul-Haq 2-52 |
| Iftikhar Ahmed 40 (27) | Mohammad Nabi 1-31 |
| TARGET | 283 runs in 50 overs |
The start
- There was nothing wrong with Pakistan’s batting in this inning. At the same time, there is a sense of apprehension. The average Pakistani cricket fan knows that this isn’t right. Their sixth sense and past experiences are shouting that this side will give Afghanistan 2 more points today.
- This is the energy they gave with their batting today. The score is fine. But the energy is very awkward.
- The doom started when Imam-ul-haq got out on a short ball. This was a textbook dismissal. It has become a fact that if you want to get Imam out, the ball is short.
- This was a 56-run opening partnership. However, fans don’t expect you to get out in front of a side like Afghanistan.
- Babar came on the crease with a lot of pressure. He hasn’t performed since the last two matches. Babar had a 54-run stand with Abdullah, but this was broken through by Noor Ahmad, the young chinaman.
Middle-order collapses again
- Rizwan was on the crease, carrying the burden of a lot of hopes and expectations. Maybe this is what got him because he went out cheap.
- After this, Babar had short 40+ runs stands with Saud and Shadab. And when he was looking forward to going ballistic, he preyed on a spinner again. Pakistan has to work on this now. This is becoming a problem.
Redemption from Shaddy boy and IftiMania
- Shadab and Iftikhar meant business. They scored 73 runs in 45 delivered, giving Pakistan a fighting chance. However, there was good death bowling from the Afghanistan pacers.
- The last over was horrendous from the Green Shirts. That is zero game awareness from Shaheen. He had to take a single and give a strike to Shadab, who was a set batter. However, he took a double and wasted the final over.
- Pakistan made 282 in 50 overs. They could have done more; they could have done worse. Overall, not a satisfactory show from the men in green.
2nd Innings – Afghanistan
| AFGHANISTAN 286-2 (49 overs) | |
| BATTING | BOWLING |
| Ibrahim Zadran 87 (113) | Hasan Ali 1-44 |
| Rahmat Shah 77 (84) | Shaheen Shah Afridi 1-58 |
| Rahmanullah Gurbaz 65 (53) | Iftikhar Ahmed 0-27 |
| RESULT | Afghanistan won by 8 wickets at hand and 1 over remaining. |
- A pathetic bowling display from Pakistan. Afghanistan has beaten the Green Shirts through and through. They didn’t spare them at all. Only Hasan Ali was economical.
- Props to Ibrahim Zadran and Co for an excellent batting display. The opening partnership of 130 runs was the foundation that led to Pakistan’s demise in this match.
- Shaheen Afridi did provide a breakthrough, but was that enough? Pakistan could have jumped in and took the wickets after Zadran fell to Hasan Ali. However, Afghanistan was just too good today.
- Fielding, batting, and bowling, Pakistan was beaten in every aspect. Another upset from Afghanistan in this World Cup. Are they seriously eyeing for the top 4 now?
- The 8-wicket victory has boosted Afghanistan’s NRR, and they are at number 6 on the points table now. This World Cup is turning out to be very interesting.
Man of the match
Ibrahim Zadran got this award for scoring his historic 87 runs against Pakistan. The team needed it, the people in Afghanistan needed it, and somewhere in the world, Pakistan cricket team’s haters needed this too. Well, what a clinical knock from Zadran.
