How long before Afghanistan beat one of the bigger sides?

[Amjid Javed]

Have to say im very impressed Afghanistans progress they have made in shorter formats of the game both T20 and ODIs. They seem to have always had decent bowlers to make them competative and now they have found a few good batsmen aswell. They have beaten W.I, sri lanka, look like they will beat Bangla here (unless i jinx it).

How long till they beat pakistan? Or india? Ir even one of the other bigger international sides? England/S.A/N.Z or Aussies?

I wouldnt be shocked if thet beat pakistan or india in this Asia cup.

 

[cricketindiafan]

Very likely in this tournament itself. Their batting has been top class and bowling has worked as a complete unit. Excellent to watch.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Afghanistan would whitewash Australia in Asia, 3-0 or 5-0. With or without Smith and Warner. And no, I am not joking.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Afghanistan would whitewash Australia in Asia, 3-0 or 5-0. With or without Smith and Warner. And no, I am not joking.

They should invite Aussies over for an ODI series while smith and warner are still banned.

 

[Ab Fan]

In WC, one of SA, Eng or NZ to bottle against Afghanistan IMO.

 

[Canford Cliffs]

Maybe in 24 hours time?

 

[moghul]

Afghanistan would whitewash Australia in Asia, 3-0 or 5-0. With or without Smith and Warner. And no, I am not joking.

That what BD fans say whenever they win a match, which doesn;t happen very often. Please win some matches against anyone but BD, Zimb and Irelans, before dreaming of beating Aussies 5-0.

 

[happydavy]

I wud be surprised if it doesn't happen soon. Their players look very skilled and mighty confident. Most importantly, no stupid celebrations on winning, which also shows that they believe that they will win quite regularly...let's just say very unlike bdeshis.

 

[khan991]

Afghanistan will be a better side than Bangladesh

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

What I like is no over the top stupid celebration after a win as if they have won 100 millions in lottery.

 

[Saj]

Well so far:

In ODIs Afghanistan have now beaten:
West Indies 3 times out of 5 matches
Sri Lanka once out of 3 matches
Bangladesh 3 times out of 6 matches
Zimbabwe 15 times out of 25 matches

 

[Amjid Javed]

Well so far:

In ODIs Afghanistan have now beaten:
West Indies 3 times out of 5 matches
Sri Lanka once out of 3 matches
Bangladesh 3 times out of 6 matches
Zimbabwe 15 times out of 25 matches

Thats good progress in short period of time, would be interesting if 4 sides mentioned afghans played in a 5 team ODI tourney who would come out on top.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

They should invite Aussies over for an ODI series while smith and warner are still banned.

Australia would get aniihilated.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

That what BD fans say whenever they win a match, which doesn;t happen very often. Please win some matches against anyone but BD, Zimb and Irelans, before dreaming of beating Aussies 5-0.

You must not have checked recent record of Aussie team. They are weaker than what Pak was in 2015. Who in Aus you think can handle Rashid Khan? Nobody.

 

[BlackShadow]

Maybe in 24 hours time?

Insha'Allah.

 

[moghul]

You must not have checked recent record of Aussie team. They are weaker than what Pak was in 2015. Who in Aus you think can handle Rashid Khan? Nobody.

Aussies are weaker by their own standard but still any of their state team can beat Afghanistan 5-0.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Aussies are weaker by their own standard but still any of their state team can beat Afghanistan 5-0.

*****. Current Aussie team will get bundled to Afg under 150 runs every timr they bat. You truly have no idea how much Aus has regressed in ODIs. Smith was dancing like a tailender to English bowlers earlier this year.

 

[Major]

I think it could be under an year

In the past Afghani batsmen were tullaybaaz.

But finally Afghanistan are looking to adopt the approach Pakistan had back in 2010-2011

Allow the openers to play freely, after 1 wicket goes down, bat slowly till the 40th over and try to score 200 by then.

In the last 10 overs, look to go for 250 runs

For Afghanistan, 250 runs are enough to defend in Asia.

People need to remember they dont have good batsmen yet, thus they should look to bat slow in the middle order.
There spin attack is great, thus 250 is very defendable by them

 

[troodon]

They are going to beat Pak or India in this Asia cup.

Pak does not look in form and Indian batting will collapse if Top 2 does not perform.

An upset is on the cards in Asia cup.

Also, the way Afghans not celebrating a win over Lanka and BD shows that they want to be in big boys league. No more a minnow.

 

[Usman Chadda]

They are going to beat Pak or India in this Asia cup.

Pak does not look in form and Indian batting will collapse if Top 2 does not perform.

An upset is on the cards in Asia cup.

Also, the way Afghans not celebrating a win over Lanka and BD shows that they want to be in big boys league. No more a minnow.

You can never judge Pakistan's form. They might end up thrashing Afghanistan tomorrow for all we know.

 

[happydavy]

What makes their achievements even more remarkable is that they don't have a home ground per say where they are able to defeat teams regularly. Imagine a cricket match in Kabul in front of their home crowd, these guys will annihilate a few teams.

 

[aloo paratha]

Whenever australia, or south Africa decide to face them in the subcontinent.

 

[aloo paratha]

Afghanistan are a better side than Bangladesh

Fixed that for you

 

[Hasan123]

They will be competitive on pitches that offer something for spin bowlers. If they get enough runs, I think they can beat most big teams but over a series I wouldn't expect them to win the series. But winning a game or two against the top teams would be a great achivemeant.

 

[Stalin]

May another 8 or 9 hours..... Serious.. serious chance of a catastrophe for the pakistani fans on the cards today

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Afghanistan would whitewash Australia in Asia, 3-0 or 5-0. With or without Smith and Warner. And no, I am not joking.

I agree.

 

[Shandarchowka]

They've already beaten Sri Lanka who are 1996 champions. They will eventually beat other big teams as they keep playing. I expect them to take down at least 3 teams in next heat World Cup.

 

[MMHS]

I think, it’s a very low standard set for AFGs. I am sure by “big team” people are not considering SRL & WIN now because of them being former World Champs. Don’t think anyone nodays consider winning a soccer game against Hungary or field hockey game against PAK as that big.

In past, SRL best IND in 1979, ZIM beat AUS & ENG in 183 & 1992, Kenya beat WIN of 1996 & SRL of 2003, Ireland beat PAK & ENG in 2007 & 2011 and we won against PAK, IND & SAF in 1999 & 2007 - and apart from 1992 & 1999 every other game was active WC game. I can take ZIM beating IND & SAF in 1999 WC as well, but they were a good side then. Outside WC, I am sure there many more - we beat AUS in 2005, ENG in 2010 - both in UK, Kenya beat IND at least twice, oblate ZIM beat PAK twice.

Winning one add game in ODI or T20 isn’t that big upset (or achievement) to be honest, even Hong Kong scared IND recently - AFGs are actually better than that.

 

[hussain.r97]

Tonight is a big chance for Afghanistan. If they can find a way to the finals of the Asia Cup somehow, they are more than competitive to win the whole thing.

Other than that, they would definitely win a series against Australia and be competitive against New Zealand and England in the UAE. They still have a long way to go before winning games outside Asia, but this is a good start.

 

[Amjid Javed]

I can see Aghans recording 1st win over pakistan here. They continue to impress.

 

[Tabishbeigh]

an upset awaits!

 

[BlackShadow]

It is sad from an Afgan perspective that their pace attack which used to be quite good a few years ago, is pretty much non-existent today. If their prime coincided with the current spin duo, then Afganistan would easily be a mid-ranked team.

 

[Hasan2K8]

Afghanistan beating Bangladesh = BD are minnows, according to the great Pakistani experts on this site.

So.. by that logic. If Afghanistan beat Pakistan today means Pakistan are minnows.

Some ‘experts’ show lack of respect to afghanistan by calling the other team they beat minnows, when they clearly out played them it takes away the credit from Afg. Calling others minnows because they lost to Afg? Like seriously, some people need to get off online internet cricket sites clearly being on it too much.

Afghanistan is a good side, can only get better. I reckon if their batting matures if they can get bigger totals. Some wickets will be batting paradise, they’ll need 280+ or over 300 against some teams, because some smart teams like England will respect fairly attack the two spinning gems but will take apart the rest especially pacers that way they make it up.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Only just missed out on beating pakistan and India, i think in Asian conditions Afghans should fancy beating bigger sides in shorter formats in future.

 

[BlackShadow]

Almost beat India today. They are 2 good pacers away from being a very competitive side.

 

[Saj]

Only a matter of time.

They nearly beat Pakistan and India and the day that happens is not too far away.

Great team to watch.

 

[Ned Flanders]

They just need one out and out fast bowler and tinker the batting a bit.

250 is the max for the line up and they've done well.

They need to aim for 280-290 and they'll win most games.

 

[shokz1408]

World Cup 2019, they will beat one of the bigger teams. Looking forward to how they perform .

 

[MMHS]

With due credits to AFGs, I don't think it's a matter of just 1-2 players or a little bit of experience. May be I am sounding bitter, but we can see it other way also -

IND was at least 6 1st team players missing - their famous 1-2-3, their 2 opening bowlers, their premier leggi and we can add Pandeya as well, which might be covered by Jadeja. Also, they were without their regular Captain (s) - still it took couple of wrong LBW calls and a lucky run-out to match them.

If I look it as Devil's advocate, AFG innings was built on one blinder of an innings, and later a fantastic rear guard from Nabi - that Shahzad inning happens once or twice in a career still averaging under 30 (his other centuries are not against any decent attack). Also, both the players building the backbone of innings, one is 31 & other one 34, "officially", apart from that there is not much batting.

I am not demoralizing AFGs here, but they have done the easy part quite quickly - that's bridging gap with better sides, difficult job is coming. From our experience, I can say that this is much, much tougher - like scoring 500 in GMAT is probably 1 week preparation, when it goes to 600, it takes lots of hard work ..... and many won't ever score 700, no matter how much hard work is done. For an example, I can say that in 2008, we beat Floyd Reifer's WIN 2-0 & 3-0 in WIN .... but after 10 years, their full team still did beat us 2-0 in Test series.

Apart from few, most of the AFG players are well aged, which actually suggests a good bunch of players were groomed together and they have reached their potential with experience. Now, next challenge is to phase them out with a better set of younger player, otherwise team won't move forward. Nabi & Shahzad won't be there for too long - if they can do that, indeed they'll be one of the better teams from Asia. I also do think it's only about finding a couple of great batsmen & couple of proper fast bowlers - but that "only" isn't that easy a job, AND one has to refill the gap created by natural aging of current star players as well.

Good luck to AFGs, by next Asia Cup, I am sure it'll be a tournament to follow.

 

[sensible-indian-fan]

With due credits to AFGs, I don't think it's a matter of just 1-2 players or a little bit of experience. May be I am sounding bitter, but we can see it other way also -

IND was at least 6 1st team players missing - their famous 1-2-3, their 2 opening bowlers, their premier leggi and we can add Pandeya as well, which might be covered by Jadeja. Also, they were without their regular Captain (s) - still it took couple of wrong LBW calls and a lucky run-out to match them.

If I look it as Devil's advocate, AFG innings was built on one blinder of an innings, and later a fantastic rear guard from Nabi - that Shahzad inning happens once or twice in a career still averaging under 30 (his other centuries are not against any decent attack). Also, both the players building the backbone of innings, one is 31 & other one 34, "officially", apart from that there is not much batting.

I am not demoralizing AFGs here, but they have done the easy part quite quickly - that's bridging gap with better sides, difficult job is coming. From our experience, I can say that this is much, much tougher - like scoring 500 in GMAT is probably 1 week preparation, when it goes to 600, it takes lots of hard work ..... and many won't ever score 700, no matter how much hard work is done. For an example, I can say that in 2008, we beat Floyd Reifer's WIN 2-0 & 3-0 in WIN .... but after 10 years, their full team still did beat us 2-0 in Test series.

Apart from few, most of the AFG players are well aged, which actually suggests a good bunch of players were groomed together and they have reached their potential with experience. Now, next challenge is to phase them out with a better set of younger player, otherwise team won't move forward. Nabi & Shahzad won't be there for too long - if they can do that, indeed they'll be one of the better teams from Asia. I also do think it's only about finding a couple of great batsmen & couple of proper fast bowlers - but that "only" isn't that easy a job, AND one has to refill the gap created by natural aging of current star players as well.

Good luck to AFGs, by next Asia Cup, I am sure it'll be a tournament to follow.

Brilliant post.

This guy is a gem of a poster.

All the best to Afghanistan.

In the final over, I wasn't sure whom to root for. I guess tied match was the perfect result. Haha.

 

[Mohammad zuber]

Only a matter of time.

They nearly beat Pakistan and India and the day that happens is not too far away.

Great team to watch.

Pakistan s first11
And indias 2nd 11
You can understand quality between pakistan and indian cricket with this match

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

With due credits to AFGs, I don't think it's a matter of just 1-2 players or a little bit of experience. May be I am sounding bitter, but we can see it other way also -

IND was at least 6 1st team players missing - their famous 1-2-3, their 2 opening bowlers, their premier leggi and we can add Pandeya as well, which might be covered by Jadeja. Also, they were without their regular Captain (s) - still it took couple of wrong LBW calls and a lucky run-out to match them.

If I look it as Devil's advocate, AFG innings was built on one blinder of an innings, and later a fantastic rear guard from Nabi - that Shahzad inning happens once or twice in a career still averaging under 30 (his other centuries are not against any decent attack). Also, both the players building the backbone of innings, one is 31 & other one 34, "officially", apart from that there is not much batting.

I am not demoralizing AFGs here, but they have done the easy part quite quickly - that's bridging gap with better sides, difficult job is coming. From our experience, I can say that this is much, much tougher - like scoring 500 in GMAT is probably 1 week preparation, when it goes to 600, it takes lots of hard work ..... and many won't ever score 700, no matter how much hard work is done. For an example, I can say that in 2008, we beat Floyd Reifer's WIN 2-0 & 3-0 in WIN .... but after 10 years, their full team still did beat us 2-0 in Test series.

Apart from few, most of the AFG players are well aged, which actually suggests a good bunch of players were groomed together and they have reached their potential with experience. Now, next challenge is to phase them out with a better set of younger player, otherwise team won't move forward. Nabi & Shahzad won't be there for too long - if they can do that, indeed they'll be one of the better teams from Asia. I also do think it's only about finding a couple of great batsmen & couple of proper fast bowlers - but that "only" isn't that easy a job, AND one has to refill the gap created by natural aging of current star players as well.

Good luck to AFGs, by next Asia Cup, I am sure it'll be a tournament to follow.

All this is true. Especially for Bangladesh.

Afghanistan on the other hand has been a total different story.

Afghanistan succes has always been doubted. Right from when they were going to play division 5. If you watch the documentary "out of the ashes" an English guy goes and watch them train and then he laughs and says" They play cricket like war. They bowl as fast as they can and try to hit the ball as hard as they can, but they will be found out when they face teams with FC experience" This was in 2008.

10 years later Afghanistan is a test team.

Remember Afghanistan has produced Rashid, Mujeeb two big stars and they have become part of the team recently. Rehmat and Hashmatullah are also newcomers. HAshmat is top scorer for Afghanistan in Asia cup.

Afghanistan already have their main pacers Dawlat Zadran and Wafadar - a new exciting fast bowler out injured. Hamid Hassan is already on the injury list.

Fact is the new players coming into the team are better then those they replace. Rashid is pretty much replacement of Samiuallah Shinware and Mujeeb is replacing Hamza Hotak - another good spinner in his own right, but Mujeeb is better.

Then you have many exciting young talent like Darwish Rasooli, Azamatullah, Naveen Ul Haq, Rahmanullah Gurbaz etc. The talent is coming through. And frankly speaking many of the senior players are not that difficult to replace. Except Nabi others are pretty ordinary.