- Joined
- Aug 12, 2023
- Runs
- 19,836

One team on the rise and another already comfortably positioned, if not at the summit of the game, then at least at its base camp. Uganda and Afghanistan will meet for the first time in an official T20I in Guyana, marking Uganda's World Cup debut.
Their last official match also took place in South America, though the two teams have never played a full-status international match. Uganda was one of the few teams to best Afghanistan during their rapid ascent through the divisions of the World Cricket League. The only previous ICC competition meeting between the two teams was at the 2009 WCL Division 3 at the St. Albans Club in Buenos Aires. In that match, a then 28-year-old Frank Nsubuga hit a counter-attacking 62 off 44 balls down the order to secure a 14-run victory for Uganda. Now 43, offspinner Nsubuga and Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi are the only players from that match still in their respective squads.
Both teams qualified from that event for the subsequent World Cup Qualifier, but while Afghanistan's trajectory continued upward, Uganda slipped back into the Associate ranks and did not reach another pinnacle event for a decade and a half. This encounter will be their first competitive match in the T20 format, having been placed in opposite groups during the 2012 and 2013 T20 Global Qualifiers. They did, however, play a warm-up match against each other at the latter event, which Afghanistan won comfortably.
A similar result is widely expected for their Group C encounter, with conditions likely favoring Afghanistan's strong spin-bowling lineup. The Afghan spin unit, featuring global stars Rashid Khan, Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, has led to their being tipped as dark-horse semi-finalists despite a batting lineup that, aside from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, has been inconsistent.
Uganda, on the other hand, arrives at the tournament in good form, having played 35 T20Is in the past year and winning all but five. However, all 35 matches were played closer to home, and Uganda's record outside of Africa is less impressive. Facing a full member nation for only the second time in their history (the first being their win over Zimbabwe to qualify for this event) at a venue familiar to much of the Afghan side but new to Uganda presents a challenging debut for the Cricket Cranes.
Squads:
Uganda Squad: Ronak Patel, Robinson Obuya, Alpesh Ramjani, Roger Mukasa(w), Riazat Ali Shah, Dinesh Nakrani, Brian Masaba(c), Kenneth Waiswa, Cosmas Kyewuta, Juma Miyagi, Henry Ssenyondo, Fred Achelam, Frank Nsubuga, Bilal Hassan, Simon Ssesazi
Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Ishaq(w), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan(c), Nangeyalia Kharote, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Karim Janat, Noor Ahmad
=======
All posters please take note of the following guidelines for match threads on PakPassion:
1. No personal insults at other posters, players, officials, coaching staffs etc.
2. No making fun of player's, official's, coaching staff's names.
3. Do not add any references to media, their social media or post any pictures or screenshots from other sports websites.
4. Stick to commenting on this match. There is no need to bring other countries into the match discussion as there are plenty of other threads where those discussions can be added.