Has Afghanistan snatched the stature of Pakistan in the realm of cricket?

[BouncerGuy]

Former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal speaking during an interview:

"Before the tournament began, I had said that I expected Afghanistan to beat at least one top-ranked team in their group, and they've done that by beating England. They are building into a good side, one of the top teams in world cricket."

 

[Major]

Afg fielding was top notch today

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Their bowling and fielding are both way better than Pakistan's so yeah Afghanistan has the upper hand now.

 

[amvbfm]

These two batsmen look good, especially Atal - seems to be sensible and has talent. Could solve Afg’s perennial middle order issues.

 

[shamaan]

Their bowling and fielding are both way better than Pakistan's so yeah Afghanistan has the upper hand now.

Afganistan fielding isn't that great tbh.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Impact-wise, they did... Afghanistan has had some solid wins in recent times... But overall, it will need more time.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Impact-wise, they did... Afghanistan has had some solid wins in recent times... But overall, it will need more time.

Partly due to lack of matches against main teams. Last 3 years they have played a grand total of 28 T20 internationals. They were 2024 semi finalists. They had played the least number of T20Is. Pakistan has played 64 T20Is in last 3 years. Most by any team. Today's match is the first T20 match for Afghanistan in 2025

 

[Wasim Ghulam]

Partly due to lack of matches against main teams. Last 3 years they have played a grand total of 28 T20 internationals. They were 2024 semi finalists. They had played the least number of T20Is. Pakistan has played 64 T20Is in last 3 years. Most by any team. Today's match is the first T20 match for Afghanistan in 2025

whatever Pak played in three years do not count because Current batting order is new one and only been together for 15 matches. Afg team is more experienced . Most of their top guns play IPL and other quality leagues

 

[jnaveen1980]

whatever Pak played in three years do not count because Current batting order is new one and only been together for 15 matches. Afg team is more experienced . Most of their top guns play IPL and other quality leagues

We can't use IPL, league experience here. Because they are playing with David Miller, Glen PHilips etc. So their talent gets rewarded. How well you gel as a team is important. It doesn't matter how much experience you have. It matters how well you gel as a unit. More you play more you do well. Afghanistan is not exactly blessed with great talents in terms of batting given the infrastructure. THey have come so far even with deficiencies. If they really want to take a bigger stride they need to play more games. Then they will start playing as a team.

 

[Sachin fan]

One match doesn't prove anything, still long tournament to go.

But I like this new look Pakistan, the attitude has completely changed. This is proof that getting rid of dead wood and seniors is very important if you want a change of culture.

Love seeing Pakistan play exciting cricket after so long.

 

[Wasim Ghulam]

We can't use IPL, league experience here. Because they are playing with David Miller, Glen PHilips etc. So their talent gets rewarded. How well you gel as a team is important. It doesn't matter how much experience you have. It matters how well you gel as a unit. More you play more you do well. Afghanistan is not exactly blessed with great talents in terms of batting given the infrastructure. THey have come so far even with deficiencies. If they really want to take a bigger stride they need to play more games. Then they will start playing as a team.

No one is denying that Afg has come very far with limited resources.

But underlying assumption that since AFG has not played t20 in 2025 so they lost against Pak yesterday , Thats wrong

 

[jnaveen1980]

No one is denying that Afg has come very far with limited resources.

But underlying assumption that since AFG has not played t20 in 2025 so they lost against Pak yesterday , Thats wrong

Come on dude. You don't play as a team for 10 months. Play in different leagues doing different roles. Suddenly you fly in from somewhere and assemble and play. They are going to be scratchy obviously. That can happen to much bigger teams let alone smaller teams.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

We are too quick to judge after one match.

There is a long season of t20 cricket ahead. Let's see who is the better side after that season. One or two matches won't show anything.

From an Afghan perspective they have a good excuse why they lost, and from a Pakistani perspective it will be a confidence boost after losing so many matches and so much talk about axing seniors.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Come on dude. You don't play as a team for 10 months. Play in different leagues doing different roles. Suddenly you fly in from somewhere and assemble and play. They are going to be scratchy obviously. That can happen to much bigger teams let alone smaller teams.

Yeh it's a fair comment and if I was Afghan coach or captain I'd be saying the same thing in the dressing room.

 

[AZulfi]

They will learn from their mistakes and come hard at us in the second game.

Pak bowling did not look lethal during the first 10 overs

Even yesterday they had the run chase in control until that collapse between overs 13-15

 

[AZulfi]

They will learn from their mistakes and come hard at us in the second game.

Pak bowling did not look lethal during the first 10 overs

Even yesterday they had the run chase in control until that collapse between overs 13-15

Overs 12-14

 

[jnaveen1980]

They will learn from their mistakes and come hard at us in the second game.

Pak bowling did not look lethal during the first 10 overs

Even yesterday they had the run chase in control until that collapse between overs 13-15

No.3 no.4 batsmen. I have never heard of them. Are they new? Generally Afghanistan batsmen are dot ball kings. They just can't rotate strike or play the field . They are not that skilled to manipulate the field set. Hence they end up playing low percentage shots and collapse. They are poor chasers. Since Jan 1 2024 they lost all the matches they chased

 

[AZulfi]

No.3 no.4 batsmen. I have never heard of them. Are they new? Generally Afghanistan batsmen are dot ball kings. They just can't rotate strike or play the field . They are not that skilled to manipulate the field set. Hence they end up playing low percentage shots and collapse. They are poor chasers. Since Jan 1 2024 they lost all the matches they chased

Yes they struggle to rotate the strike and have a tendency to panic under pressure and lose wicket in a heap

 

[Wasim Ghulam]

Come on dude. You don't play as a team for 10 months. Play in different leagues doing different roles. Suddenly you fly in from somewhere and assemble and play. They are going to be scratchy obviously. That can happen to much bigger teams let alone smaller teams.

Second Best Asian Team Should nt be scratchy. Ten months or not

i Guess ACB can blame itself for lack of exposure. Why does nt Afg play more cricket with Pak or do bilateral tours? so far ACB never toured Pak for any series. what stops them? They probably think they can behave like BCCI , Imagine not realizing their standing in WC as board. Nobody asked them to confirm if they will tour for 2025 CT and yet they were confirming it on media like we would care if they did nt

 

[Hellion]

One match doesn't prove anything, still long tournament to go.

But I like this new look Pakistan, the attitude has completely changed. This is proof that getting rid of dead wood and seniors is very important if you want a change of culture.

Love seeing Pakistan play exciting cricket after so long.

It's certainly more refreshing to watch these guys rather than watch one-paced mediocrities like Rizwan and Babar.

Which is why I think they're going to challenge India big time in the Asia Cup.

 

[Rana]

Round 2 tomorrow

The Afghans will come in hard. And we have to respond even harder!

 

[sweep_shot]

Afghanistan is inconsistent. I personally do not think they are the #2 in Asia.

#2 is kind of wide open.

SL, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan - they all can beat each other and they are in the same tier. They all can be anywhere from #2 to #5. Their positions fluctuate.

 

[Savak]

Afghanistan have a better bowling attack then Pakistan especially in the spin department. Pakistan has to play out of their skin to beat them and unlike India Pakistan is not able to consistently outplay Afghanistan

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

I mean india is close but i think the spinners Afghanistan have are the best in the world there was 4 spinners playing tri series final all were world class so well done to pakistan who scored more than 140 against these monsters in these sharjah conditions.

 

[mominsaigol]

I mean india is close but i think the spinners Afghanistan have are the best in the world there was 4 spinners playing tri series final all were world class so well done to pakistan who scored more than 140 against these monsters in these sharjah conditions.

India is better. So is Pakistan tbh. Afghanistan is overrated.

Afghanistan had freak purple patch years of spin but their spinners are now showing signs of decling in form.

Nabi is finished and rashid Khan is loosing his venom. Noor Ahmed is still good but are declining. Its just indian posters are desperate to put Pakistan as the worst possible team on the planet and will say anything and everything.

 

[Aqib_mustafa]

India is better. So is Pakistan tbh. Afghanistan is overrated.

Afghanistan had freak purple patch years of spin but their spinners are now showing signs of decling in form.

Nabi is finished and rashid Khan is loosing his venom. Noor Ahmed is still good but are declining. Its just indian posters are desperate to put Pakistan as the worst possible team on the planet and will say anything and everything.

Ya so true bro even in final rashid went for 38 runs i think afghan spinners let pakistan score far too many runs in final 140 was a match winning total on spinning sharjah pitch you are right india followed by pakistan have the best spinners.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

They have an excellent spin attack.

 

[mominsaigol]

Ya so true bro even in final rashid went for 38 runs i think afghan spinners let pakistan score far too many runs in final 140 was a match winning total on spinning sharjah pitch you are right india followed by pakistan have the best spinners.

The reason Afghanistan was doing so well os cause they were playing 4+ spinners on spin friendly tracks while Pakistan was obsessed with using Shaheen, Rauf and naseem for everything with only shadab and Nawaz as their main spinners.

Nawaz has improved heaps and bounds though but they kept ignoring sajid, Noman, abrar, Sufiyan for years.

Mehran mumtaz, Mubasir Khan etc etc are still being ignored.

Even then Afghanistan's peak attack doesnt come anywhere close to Pakistan's peak spin attack of Ajmal, Hafeez, Afridi, Yasir Shah.