The team will be in Colombo for the ODI series, playing all matches at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium. After that, they’ll head to Dambulla for the T20Is. Following this, the Blue Tigers will move to the UAE, hosting Ireland from February 28 to March 18. During this period, they will play a Test match and three white-ball format matches. The Test match will take place at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, while the white-ball series will be held in Sharjah. The ODIs are scheduled for March 7, 9, and 12, and the T20Is will begin on March 15. Naseeb Khan, CEO of the Afghanistan Cricket Board, believes that these series, along with the upcoming trip to India, will strengthen the team for future challenges, including the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and the USA in June.

“The year 2024 is a very busy and full of high-voltage competitions for the Afghanistan national team”, Naseeb began.

“The upcoming tours of India, Sri Lanka, and then the home series against Ireland will help us to prepare the team for the much-important T20 World Cup. (We’re) eagerly looking forward to the multiple series.â€?/p>

Afghanistan’s T20I tour of India starts on January 11 in Mohali.

Steven Smith may not play in Australia’s match against Afghanistan on Tuesday in Mumbai due to vertigo. He’s had vertigo issues before and mentioned on Monday that he wasn’t feeling well, but he hoped to recover in time for the game after practicing in the nets.

Smith said, “I’ve had a bit of vertigo the last day or so, so it’s been quite bothersome. Hopefully, I can get through training today and be okay. It’s not a pleasant experience; I’ve had a few episodes in the past. But I’ll practice and hope to be fine for the game.”

When asked if this would affect his participation in Australia’s eighth league-stage match with their semi-final spot still uncertain, Smith responded, “No, I think I’ll be alright. I’m not feeling great now, but I’ll practice and see how it goes, so hopefully, I’ll be fine.”

After the press conference, Smith batted in the nets without initial discomfort. He faced throwdowns and practiced his strokes. However, he later appeared unwell and left the field with support staff members while his teammates continued to bat.

Smith has previously dealt with vertigo issues, and it affected his recovery from a concussion last year. In this World Cup, his performance hasn’t been at its best, with 205 runs and an average of 29.28 per innings.

Smith acknowledged his disappointment with his performance, saying, “I’ve had some promising partnerships but would have liked to score more runs. I feel like I’m hitting the ball well, so I hope to improve in the later stages of the tournament.”

The Afghanistan cricket team is impressing everyone at the World Cup. Coach Jonathan Trott wants one of his players to score a century in the next three games. Afghanistan has been doing really well, beating strong teams like England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. They are proving they are not underdogs anymore.

Trott said, “No one has scored a hundred yet, so that’s our next goal. Someone needs to take responsibility and bat for a long time to get a hundred.” Some players like Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, and Rahmat Shah have come close but haven’t reached a hundred in the tournament.

Trott believes their middle-order players are also capable of scoring centuries. He’s confident they will achieve this goal soon.

Afghanistan has a strong bowling attack but is now showing good batting skills too. They’ve won games by both defending and chasing scores. Trott mentioned they’ve been working hard on their batting and players are gaining confidence.

After beating Sri Lanka, Afghanistan is in the fifth position in the tournament. They have three more games to play against the Netherlands, Australia, and South Africa. Trott believes there’s still room for improvement in batting, bowling, and fielding. They are happy with the victory against Sri Lanka, a strong team in the T20 Asia Cup and ODI Asia Cup.

In a World Cup match in Chennai on Monday, Pakistan faces a crucial situation. After losing two consecutive matches to India and Australia, they must win this game to keep their hopes alive for a spot in the semifinals. Currently, they are in fifth place with four points from four matches, but their negative net run rate is a concern and needs improvement. Pakistan’s main challenge is their struggle against spin bowlers, as seen when they lost wickets to Australian leg-spinner Adam Zampa in Bengaluru.

Afghanistan has a strong spin bowling lineup with Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who can be a threat, especially on a pitch that favors spin. Pakistan needs better performances from their batsmen, especially from Babar Azam, who has not performed well in the tournament. Mohammad Rizwan has been the standout batsman for Pakistan with 294 runs, but the rest of the middle-order batsmen like Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed need to step up.

Pakistan’s bowling has also been a concern, with their pacers struggling to make an impact. Left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi showed some promise with a five-wicket haul against Australia, but Haris Rauf and Hasan Ali have yet to adapt to bowling in the Power Play.

Pakistan’s spinners have also failed to deliver, with Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, and Usama Mir unable to take wickets or control the run rate. This has been a major reason for Pakistan’s struggles in the middle overs.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, has not had consistent performances from their batsmen, except for opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz. While players like Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, and Hashmatullah Shahidi have shown flashes of brilliance, they need to be more consistent.

In addition to the cricketing aspects, the Pakistan vs. Afghanistan rivalry has developed some tension in recent years. If both teams rise to the occasion, we could witness a classic match.

Here are the team line-ups for the game:

Afghanistan:

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

Pakistan:

Babar Azam (c), Haris Rauf,Shadab Khan, Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Wasim, Usama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi,Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz.

Afghanistan Captain Laments Missed Catches and Pitch Misjudgment
After a devastating 149-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand in a World Cup game, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi expressed his disappointment. He attributed their loss to dropping as many as five crucial catches and failing to read the nature of the pitch. New Zealand batted first, posting 288/6 in 50 overs, with Glenn Phillips (71) and Tom Latham (68) surviving key moments to produce a match-winning 144-run partnership. Afghanistan, in response, was bowled out for just 139 in 34.4 overs. Shahidi acknowledged, “Very disappointed because at this level you have to take those kinds of catches. End of the day, those catches hurt us as otherwise the team was doing well but the fielding let us down.”

Turning Point in the Last Six Overs
The turning point in the match was the final six overs, during which Afghanistan conceded 78 runs. Shahidi pointed out, “Last six overs, a lot of runs were scored by New Zealand. Before that, we dropped two catches before the 40th over, and the set batters (Latham and Phillips) were there. That’s why we couldn’t stop them, as everything went their way.” If the missed catches had a detrimental effect, choosing to field after winning the toss was also a significant factor. Shahidi stated, “The toss I can say… We couldn’t judge the pitch properly. I think in the first innings, the ball was spinning (turning) and was a bit slow. We bowled well but our fielding wasn’t good.”

Impact After a Win Against England
Shahidi acknowledged the impact of not being able to maintain momentum after defeating England. He noted, “Tonight’s game will hurt us, but we still have more games to come. Next match is against Pakistan. We will go back and discuss where we can improve and will try to come back stronger.”

New Zealand’s Optimism
On the other side, New Zealand’s stand-in skipper Tom Latham expressed optimism about his team’s performance. He mentioned, “I guess on the back of some good performances, we are stepping in the right way. We have a week or so (4 days) and then we will play India (October 22) and then Australia (October 28), we are hoping to continue the momentum.”

Crucial Partnership and Missed Opportunities
Latham was pleased with the crucial partnership he and Glenn Phillips had during the match. He said, “We were put under pressure at certain times but putting pressure back on them at the end of the innings was great. I think at that time we lost three wickets in a short span of time, we tried to get a partnership there… took it nice and deep.” He also acknowledged the significance of the missed catches, stating, “There were a few chances here and there I guess. We tried to capitalize on those chances. Glenn played a fantastic innings, took the pressure off me. The guys set the tone at the top in the first 10 overs and kept chipping in.”

Mark Chapman and Mitchell Santner’s Contribution
The Man of the Match, Glenn Phillips, praised Mark Chapman and Mitchell Santner for their crucial contribution in the final stages of the match, making 34 runs in the last 2.5 overs. He mentioned, “It was great how we were able to take it till the end, and I think we understood what we could possibly get in the last 10 overs. It was amazing how Chapman and Santner finished it. I thought 250 was par.” He also highlighted the team’s unity, saying, “We are in an environment where we keep working for each other and play as a team. Latham was really good towards the end.”

Within a few days, Afghanistan’s bowler Naveen ul Haq went from being a divisive character to a hometown hero, winning over the devoted supporters of Virat Kohli at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium. The tide shifted for Naveen, who faced considerable criticism during India’s World Cup 2023 match against Afghanistan last week, as he buried the hatchet with Indian batting sensation Virat Kohli. The feud, rooted in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season earlier in the year, has now found closure.

The embrace between Naveen and Kohli followed India’s dominant eight-wicket triumph over Afghanistan at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi just last Wednesday. The atmosphere in Delhi took a warmer turn on Sunday during Afghanistan’s third match in the World Cup 2023, as they faced off against reigning champions England.

Afghanistan etched their names in history on Sunday, clinching their inaugural ODI World Cup victory, stunning Jos Buttler’s England by an impressive 69 runs. Naveen played a pivotal role, securing a crucial 1/44, including the prized wicket of England’s skipper, Jos Buttler, who was cleanly bowled for a mere 9 runs. The spirited support for Naveen from the Delhi crowd reverberated across social media platforms, with a video capturing the fervor going viral.