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Afghanistan is easily the third best Asian team

Savak

Savak

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A broadcasters dream. I just love the way their batsmen fearlessly go after the balling with full fledged flair, passion without worrying about anything.

This is the brand of Cricket I wish Pakistan could play in the limited overs format. The PCB is seriously missing out by not arranging a ODI and T20 series at home against them especially in the kpk province.
 
Afghanistan is easily the third best Asian team after today's performance

The way they are kicking SL - i don't think BDesh and SL have the team to compete with Afghanistan esp in limited overs cricket.

Afghanistan's problem has always been closing out games and dealing with pressure situations.

But I am noticing, the more they play, the better they will get.

Bdesh is done. SL does not look that impressive. I just dont see a good core of players in BDESH and SL that can win away from home. They win at home by making dustbowls but the minute they're out of their home, they struggle.
 
In the last 3 years, in T20Is - Selected Teams

India - Played 56/Won 38/Lost 14. Win Ratio (2.7)
Afghanistan - 29/18/10. (1.8)
Pakistan - 47/ 27/15 (1.8)
New Zealand - 52/30/18 (1.67)
Bangladesh - 46/19/26 (0.73)
Zimbabwe - 46/19/27 (0.70)
Sri Lanka - 46/14/30 (0.47)

On this evidence, Afghanistan is the 2nd best T20 team in Asia. I think they do get to play against many associate teams Pakistan do not play. Sri Lanka are terrible.
 
They are not.

This team tomr can end up losing to Bangladesh or even Sri Lank. To be considered amongest the best teams you need to be consistent. Afghanistan isn't consistent and the reason isn't because they dont have talent, its because their cricket board likes to screw it self up.

This team in the past relied on spinners. Now they have got one pace bowler who seems to be very good, yet they dont have a second or even a third pacer that can establish them to be very good.

There batters play only one brand of cricket, which is to slog. If they are in trouble or need someone to anchor the innings, they cant win a game than. Sri lanka being terrible has got Pathun Nisanka to anchor them out when in trouble.

This team is talented enough to win the Asia Cup, but it also has a board that can make sure this team stays dead last in ranks.

If they win the Asia Cup somehow, that wont show them being the best but it would show the potential of these Afghani Cricketers.

It still needs batters that play proper cricketing shots and can defend or rotate strike. They have finally gotten a good keeper
 
Knowing the lack of depth in our batting & missing 2 key players Afghan bro can beat us.
 
Very dangerous opponent in the T20 format.

Getting to the stage where they can beat anyone on their day.
 
Afghanistan has potent spin attack , and when they play in sutiable conditions they will be dangerous.
 
The shorter the format the more likely anybody can turn anybody over

All you need is a good handful of overs and the match in t20s can change which doesnt happen in odi or tests

Theyve got a long way to go if they wanna be competitive in cricket proper tho
 
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In T20's in these conditions? Maybe. They crashed out of the last 50 over world cup without a single win .
 
i am a little puzzled. i started this thread and my post has now moved from the first post to second.
 
shehwar said:
I’m guessing you meant T20 when you said that. Big difference between T20 and ODIs.
Click to expand...

i wouldnt be surprised if they do well in odis also

besides rashid they have good seamers now and solid batsmen

not just allrounders and medium pacers

they need to improve their fielding
 
Corridor of Uncertainty said:
In the last 3 years, in T20Is - Selected Teams

India - Played 56/Won 38/Lost 14. Win Ratio (2.7)
Afghanistan - 29/18/10. (1.8)
Pakistan - 47/ 27/15 (1.8)
New Zealand - 52/30/18 (1.67)
Bangladesh - 46/19/26 (0.73)
Zimbabwe - 46/19/27 (0.70)
Sri Lanka - 46/14/30 (0.47)

On this evidence, Afghanistan is the 2nd best T20 team in Asia. I think they do get to play against many associate teams Pakistan do not play. Sri Lanka are terrible.
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that evidence is not conclusive the deem them second best team in asia

you already answered your point that theyve played mostly against associates where as pakistan was actually #1 in t20s recently
 
Savak said:
The PCB is seriously missing out by not arranging a ODI and T20 series at home against them especially in the kpk province.
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Afghan board is to blame here plz if you can recall some events that have happened in recent times.
 
In T20 for sure

I think we have 3 3rd best team in the 3 formats..in test it's SL in Odi it's BD and in T20 it's AFG. AFG is good at the most hot format now
 
Nope. ‘I expect Bangladesh to beat Afghanistan’. BD might be dodgy in T20s but come Asia, BD has more experience than Afghanistan, reach last two finals. But it’s T20 Afghanistan can beat BD just like they did to SL.
 
pakpassfan said:
In T20 for sure

I think we have 3 3rd best team in the 3 formats..in test it's SL in Odi it's BD and in T20 it's AFG. AFG is good at the most hot format now
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I beg to differ regarding ODIs. Bangladesh is a different beast in ODIs and will beat Pakistan 6 times out of 10 in ODIs and thus is the second best ODI team in Asia and has been for quite a while.
 
pakistani pride said:
Overhyped bunch of hacks.
Forget the other formats. What did they achieve in T20s?
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Considering they are in their baby/adolescent phase in cricket, what they have achieved so far in a short time is a miracle. Look at how long Bangladesh has been playing cricket, or even Sri Lanka, world cup champions, what excuse does those two have compared to the afghans in their current state of affairs (in T20)?
 
shehwar said:
I beg to differ regarding ODIs. Bangladesh is a different beast in ODIs and will beat Pakistan 6 times out of 10 in ODIs and thus is the second best ODI team in Asia and has been for quite a while.
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I agree with this for ODI format only. India and Bangladesh are probably the two best teams in Asia. They clearly have the ODI format figured out. If this Asia cup was an ODI format, I would have put my money on Ind V BD final.
 
Check out Afg's NRR!!

FbR7GBqaMAEtmWf
 
Honestly happy for Afghans, they play fearless cricket and it shows, I’m so glad we have another strong LOI team from Asia hopefully they keep surging.

Hopefully they don’t go Zim or Kenya way.. where the boards wanted a piece of pie.
 
shehwar said:
I beg to differ regarding ODIs. Bangladesh is a different beast in ODIs and will beat Pakistan 6 times out of 10 in ODIs and thus is the second best ODI team in Asia and has been for quite a while.
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I partly agree with this. Only in sc and uae conditons. Have a feeling Pak fast bowlers will be too hot to handle for the Bangladeshi line up on foreign pitches.
 
Now dominating Bangladesh in the next game. Not only is their bowling top class, but the quality and energy in the field is fantastic, and very un-Asian.

Clearly a superior white-ball side to SL and BD.
 
I guess time to reiterate what I said when I started this thread

This is a very good, fit, strong and dynamic team

They’re making Bdesh look even worse than they are
 
shehwar said:
I beg to differ regarding ODIs. Bangladesh is a different beast in ODIs and will beat Pakistan 6 times out of 10 in ODIs and thus is the second best ODI team in Asia and has been for quite a while.
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Bangladesh probably hasn’t even beaten Pakistan 5 times in it’s history.
 
light said:
I agree with this for ODI format only. India and Bangladesh are probably the two best teams in Asia. They clearly have the ODI format figured out. If this Asia cup was an ODI format, I would have put my money on Ind V BD final.
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They lost a series against depleted Zimbabwe. Bangladesh fans really need to Come down to earth.
 
Is Afghanistan on the right track now with their batting?

Been watching Afghanistan since the Nowroz Mnagal days, never have I ever seen Afghanistan batted this maturely the way they did today.

Zazari and Gurbaz like to hit the ball around, they batted slowly and steadily in a T20 game, even after they lost their wicket, Ibrahim Zadran came and just built an innings. Afghanistan was 65/3 after 14 overs and required 63 more runs in the.

After that they charged and attacked and ended the game 10 balls earlier.

If the Afghan team has matured and finally started to bat well, they are gonna be a dark force in world cricket. They were known to be fearless, but good batting with fearless attitude is like watching the Australia of the early 2000s
 
Yes a lot more maturity but again not every team will bowl like that in the death and probably choke them even more during middle.
 
Their bowling is top class for these conditions. Batting is still below average. They need to unearth a top class batsman like Babar Azam to beat top teams.
 
Champ_Pal said:
Their bowling is top class for these conditions. Batting is still below average. They need to unearth a top class batsman like Babar Azam to beat top teams.
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They do have Ibrahim Zadran who takes his time to build inningss
 
shehwar said:
I beg to differ regarding ODIs. Bangladesh is a different beast in ODIs and will beat Pakistan 6 times out of 10 in ODIs and thus is the second best ODI team in Asia and has been for quite a while.
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LOL We have three ODI players that average close to 50 - babar imam and fakhar
 
Afghanistan tonight vs Bangladesh (Asia Cup)

First 14 overs - 65/3 (0 six)
Next 4.3 overs - 66/0 (6 sixes)
 
Absolutely sad at the state of their team. I support them any day over the Afghans and its shocking how far they have fallen
 
As a habitual supporter of weaker teams, I can't find words to express my delight at the way this Afghanistan team has made such a great progress within a matter of just a few years; and, at the same time, there's very little sympathy in my heart for the Bangladesh team. I completely gave up on their cricket and its improvement from the last year's T20 World Cup. Whatever that is happening is happening for the good of the game. Go, Afghanistan! Keep on piling up the victories!
 
Ideal set-up for UAE conditions.

Excellent spinners, batters who know how to bat in the UAE and a competent fielding unit.

Definitely dark horses for the Asia Cup.
 
This could be Afghanistan‘s cup. If they can beat either of India or Pakistan in super 4, they will be in the final.

Then it’s anyones game.
 
shehwar said:
I beg to differ regarding ODIs. Bangladesh is a different beast in ODIs and will beat Pakistan 6 times out of 10 in ODIs and thus is the second best ODI team in Asia and has been for quite a while.
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Bangladesh will get smashed by Pakistan 8 out of 10 times in ODIs, it doesn't matter if the series is played in Asia or abroad.

It is not 2015 anymore, Pakistan have progressed and Bangladesh have regressed as their golden generation is coming close to an end.
 
I'll still wait. They destroyed SL and BD in the the last 50 over Asia Cup in the group stage and then could not win a single match in the Super 4's.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
I'll still wait. They destroyed SL and BD in the the last 50 over Asia Cup in the group stage and then could not win a single match in the Super 4's.
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They were able to tie the India game and lost to Pakistan and Bangladesh in absolute nail biters. Once again, it'll come down to winning the crucial moments, which depends on experience that they now have plenty of.
 
Might actually be the 2nd best T20 team in Asia.

They lack genuine seamers but they have genuine T20 specialists.

Zazai
Gurbaz
Nabi
Najeebullah
Rashid Khan
Mujeeb
Naveen

That’s a solid core of genuine T20 specialist cricketers
 
Mesozoic said:
They were able to tie the India game and lost to Pakistan and Bangladesh in absolute nail biters. Once again, it'll come down to winning the crucial moments, which depends on experience that they now have plenty of.
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But they haven't done jack in the ODI format since then either. The OP seems to claim that Afghanistan is the 3rd best side across formats. There's no evidence of that.

At best one can say that AFG are on par with BD and SL in the T20. But they are well below in Tests and ODIs
 
Nikhil_cric said:
But they haven't done jack in the ODI format since then either. The OP seems to claim that Afghanistan is the 3rd best side across formats. There's no evidence of that.
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This is right. They are definitely not #3 in ODI. Sri Lanka are better than them in ODI and Test.

But, in T20, they are definitely #3 currently.
 
Nikhil_cric said:
But they haven't done jack in the ODI format since then either. The OP seems to claim that Afghanistan is the 3rd best side across formats. There's no evidence of that.

At best one can say that AFG are on par with BD and SL in the T20. But they are well below in Tests and ODIs
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T20s - AFG, SL, BD
ODIS - BD, SL, AFG
Tests - SL, AFG, BD
 
people comparing afghanistan to sri lanka and bdesh in tests are forgetting afghanistan has had far less opportunity than either of those

look at the format they have more opportunity - bdesh and sri lanka have played even more t20s than afghanistan

they barely play any cricket at home also.

SL and BDESH are horrible, they make dustbowls and use spinners to win games. its not real cricket
 
They have a very potent spin attack, that has caused a lot of problems for the bigger boys, specially Rashid Khan.
 
Ajay Jadeja on Afghanistan:

“Teams should be wary when they play these guys in Super 4s. When you play these guys in the Super 4, I won’t be surprised if they knock one of the big teams off"

“They possess the necessary firepower, and everyone is aware of their potential. They will not let you make a comeback if India or Pakistan are 20/2 or 30/2, respectively. These guys are capable of that.”
 
MenInG said:
Ajay Jadeja on Afghanistan:

“Teams should be wary when they play these guys in Super 4s. When you play these guys in the Super 4, I won’t be surprised if they knock one of the big teams off"

“They possess the necessary firepower, and everyone is aware of their potential. They will not let you make a comeback if India or Pakistan are 20/2 or 30/2, respectively. These guys are capable of that.”
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Jadeja is right.

I think Afghanistan have the team to beat India and Pakistan.
 
Seems to be miles ahead of the other sides at the moment in all aspects.
 
It's all Afghans at the moment!

FbwJkzRagAE-hf6


FbwJkzaaAAAIlJm
 
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They lack in a couple of key areas which is game management, making stupid decisions at key moments and fitness levels. Their fielding levels today were terrible, misfielding at important times in the match resulting in soft runs for the opposition.
 
Afghanistan shall remain a minnow side until they realise that fielding is an important facet of the game.
 
SL really showing it's about the little contributions that win you games. 36 was their highest individual score today and they ended up chasing the big total. Rajapaksa is very good for this format.
 
'Easily' might have been a stretch from OP.

But I still think you could make the argument that Afghanistan is the third best Asian T20 side. Not because Afghanistan is a great side. If anything, they are highly one-dimensional. But because they are in competition with Sri Lanka.
 
Savak said:
A broadcasters dream. I just love the way their batsmen fearlessly go after the balling with full fledged flair, passion without worrying about anything.

This is the brand of Cricket I wish Pakistan could play in the limited overs format. The PCB is seriously missing out by not arranging a ODI and T20 series at home against them especially in the kpk province.
Click to expand...

No they are not, probably 4th if not the 5th

1-India
2-Pakistan
3-SL
4-Afghanistan
5-BD
 
Asian rankings in white ball cricket:

1. India
2. Sri Lanka
3. Pakistan/Afghanistan
4. Bangladesh

Afghanistan have more talent than Pakistan, they just need more experience. Bangladesh have sadly regressed badly over the past couple of years after looking promising.

Sri Lanka seem to be getting their act together and have found a core of talented cricketers after several lean years.

India have dipped slightly but remain the top dogs.
 
Mobashir said:
The two best T20 sides have played the final and the best one won.
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It's not always best teams would play the finals. Even worst teams could also fluke their way to the finals riding by lucks and then rightfully put in its place.
 
Afghans were #3 for a while but I think SL have become the new #3.

Afghans also lost 2-3 to Ireland recently (T20 series).
 
Afghanistan actually a better all round team than Pakistan in these conditions
 
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