World Cup 2023 | SWOT Analysis of Afghanistan

image-lnam77hsAfghainstan will trouble a few teams in World Cup 2023 (Source: AP Photos)

The 2023 World Cup is knocking at the door with ten teams on the queue to march into the centre of the field and rumble against one another. The box-office event is back in Asia after twelve years. The last time when the Men's Cricket World Cup was held in the subcontinent was in 2011 when the Men in Blue lifted the title beating Sri Lanka in the final. 

One of the teams that wasn't a part of the bonanza event then was Afghanistan. They made their ODI World Cup debut in 2015 and now holds a strong 15-man line-up to challenge all other teams. The Atalans will be lead by Hashmatullah Shahidi with Rahmat Shah as the deputy. Now, let us have a look at how the community sounds on paper- their strength, weakness, opportunity and the threats.

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Afghanistan Squad for World Cup 2023:

Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz,Rashid Khan, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq.


Strengths of Afghanistan for World Cup 2023:

Strong top-order

The top four in the batting order consists of names such as Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi. If talked about their performance in the past couple of years, the four have really gelled well together as a unit. 

Gurbaz is someone who has made a healthy reputation of a sensible swashbuckler and attracts bids in various franchise tournament auctions. The 21-year-old, Ibrahim, is Afghanistan's most technically sound batter in current times. He is fantastic against both spin and pace. In just a space of 19 ODI innings, Ibrahim has struck four centuries, averaging 53.58 with the bat in hand. 

Afghanistan's no. 3 and 4 are the expierienced duo of the captain and the vice-captain. Hashmatullah and Rahmat possess wealth of experience and are well known to stabilize the innings in case of early fall of the openers. 

Variety of spinners 

The Afghanistan unit named a plethora of quality spinners in their announced 15-man squad for the box office event starting October 5. Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi are to lead the department with assistance from Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad. 

Rashid, their current T20I captain is genuinely a superstar across the globe. He gained plenty of experience playing all over the world and is a magician with the cricket ball. Nabi aka. 'The President' is terrific with his finger spin and with his expierence can deal tough situations. Mujeeb Ur Rahman is a mystery in himself. He has a strong grasp of the googly, off-spin, caroom ball and a drifter of his own to outsmart the opposition. And the latest addition, Noor, gained limelight in the 2023 Indian Premier League after he showcased his talent in the bigger stage, doning the Gujarat Titans colour. 


Weakness of Afghanistan for World Cup 2023:

Fragile pace-attack

The Afghan pace attack is one of their weakest link. The history of Afghan cricket has seen various circumstances where the spinners snatched a game in their court but the pacers spilled things at the very late end. One of those incidents happened during the previous edition of World Cup when the nation contested against Pakistan and Gulbadin Naib bowled the final over. 

Fazalhaq Farooqi is likely to lead the bowling attack and is their best pacer.  The left-arm pacer has been off-coloured in recent times and that's a concern for Jonathan Trott and co. His partner in crime, Naveen-ul-Haq  is prone to injury and arrives after rehabilitation. Barring these, the likes of Azmatullah Omarzai and Abdul Rahman are quite inexperienced. 

Non-reliable finishers 

Afghanistan possess renowned names  in their lower middle order but has suffered from inconsistency in performance. Najibullah Zadran was one of the promising batters a couple of years back but lost his touch. Rashid is not someone a team would always trust with the bat. That leaves them to the experience of Nabi and amateur Omarzai. The former is almost like their lone warrior in the lower middle order these days and that was quite visible in thier recent clash against Sri Lanka in the group stages game.


Opportunity of Afghanistan for World Cup 2023:

Surprise package of the tournament 

The Atalans could be one of the surprise packages of the tournament. This is the first time that the Hashmatullah-led unit will be playing a 50-over tournament in the Asian conditions. India is almost like their home and a lot of the players have participated in good amount of IPL matches here. 

The Afghanistan side came closer to topple the higher-ranked oppositions several times but failed to get the better of their nerves in the past. With a rich blend of youth and experience, this is the perfect opportunity for them to trick the opposition with their more than handy resource.


Threat of Afghanistan for World Cup 2023:

Off-form of match-winners

Afghanistan is not a team where one would see all the eleven players shining on a particular day or in a series. But they're more of a side who depend heavily on five-six players in their side. Those match-winners are not in a very good form off-late. 

Talk about Rashid, he was suffering from injury in the past few months and that was the reason why he had to pull off from the Men's Hundred 2023. Their ace pacer, Fazalhaq has been bowling in erratic areas in his past few matches and seems nowhere near his peak. Also, there's been a little bit of consistency with the bat when it comes to the top and the middle order. In addition, it feels like ages since Najibullah sparkled with the willow in hand.


Team Report Card- Afghanistan

Attribute
Balance Rating
Top order
6.5
Middle order5
Lower-middle order6
Pace Bowling3.5
Spin Bowling8
Total5.8



Prediction of Afghanistan for World Cup 2023

Afghanistan may not qualify for the semi-finals. Despite having a good unit, they have loopholes to be covered. Although there will be matches where this side may surprise by earning a win over a higher-ranked opposition. They're likely to finish between 6-8 in the World Cup points table.