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Was the tag of "2nd Best Team in Asia" too big to handle for the Afghanistan team?

Major said:
Its funny how the indian fans here have no confidence in their own team.

The amount of baak baak they do here, and now when i said the true asian no.1 is gonna be the winner, alot of them are panicking and giving justification.

That local something says its a tournament below cpl but still not confident his team can win, who he also thinks is no.1
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Good teams can lose as well.. no.1 ranking doesn't mean they will win all finals in front of them.
 
Major said:
Its funny how the indian fans here have no confidence in their own team.

The amount of baak baak they do here, and now when i said the true asian no.1 is gonna be the winner, alot of them are panicking and giving justification.

That local something says its a tournament below cpl but still not confident his team can win, who he also thinks is no.1
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It’s not about any confidence, it’s about the wrong criteria you have to determine Asia’s #1 team. How can a team be World #1 having won the T20 World Cup but not the best in Asia, by your criteria- your argument is logically flawed.
 
afghanistan will face the same problem every promoted nation faces. whether it be zim, bang, ire, etc, its only natural that these teams get promoted when they find a crop of three or four international level players. this isnt necessarily a result of the system, especially for afghanistan where a lot of their vanguard grew up in the pakistani system. rashid khan, mohamad nabi will not be replaced easily, and there is no guarantee the replacement players are gonna be good enough (look at SL and Pak of the 90s vs today). the problems just more magnified, when u didnt have a lot of international quality players in the first place.
 
Rana said:
Rashid Khan is a rubbish captain.
Click to expand...
Parallel universe
===
𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗗 𝗞𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟮𝟳 🎂

- 415 wickets in only 222 Internationals
- 12 Fifers, 16 Four-fers
- Youngest captain in Tests & ODIs
- Fastest to 100 T20I wickets
- 2nd fastest to 100 ODI wickets
- 2,107runs with 6 fifties

🥇 Highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket (672*)

Happy Birthday to the Afghan GOAT, the winner of so many franchise league titles, and one of the best leggies of this generation, Rashid Khan!
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Parallel universe
===
𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗗 𝗞𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟮𝟳 🎂

- 415 wickets in only 222 Internationals
- 12 Fifers, 16 Four-fers
- Youngest captain in Tests & ODIs
- Fastest to 100 T20I wickets
- 2nd fastest to 100 ODI wickets
- 2,107runs with 6 fifties

🥇 Highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket (672*)

Happy Birthday to the Afghan GOAT, the winner of so many franchise league titles, and one of the best leggies of this generation, Rashid Khan!
Click to expand...

He is the greatest T20 player of all time. He has the most T20I and most T20 wickets. He is not even 30 yet (officially at least).
 
So called asia’s 2nd best team they are out they will watch what traditional top4 asians sides do. We got a Nagin El Classico match coming up. When’s the match thread going to be open for discussion!
 
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NishanKonar said:
I actually agree with Major. Rankings mean nothing unless u actually win the whole thing

Belgium was No 1 in Fifa rankings but they never delivered at WC or Euro

Remember Pakistan came into 2023 WC as No 1 in ICC rankings !
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I agree with this too but there is a slight flaw in this - winning the trophy does not mean the best performing team won it, both in cricket and soccer (I don't follow other sports than NHL so can't comment about those). Every team can have an off day, could also happen in semi or final. Statistically speaking, the best team will lift the cup almost always - but there is a probability where they may have an off day during the knockout and that's pretty much GG. If you want to go NHL's route, best x amount of won out of y played, the team with the most wins lifts the cup - that off day would mean nothing anymore and the best team will always win the cup.
 
NishanKonar said:
I actually agree with Major. Rankings mean nothing unless u actually win the whole thing

Belgium was No 1 in Fifa rankings but they never delivered at WC or Euro

Remember Pakistan came into 2023 WC as No 1 in ICC rankings !
Click to expand...
But Asia cup is not world cup. There is a difference between Madrid open and Wimbledon.
 
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DeadlyVenom said:
Indians rested so called best bowler in history Bumrah from so called high quality test series to play against UAE in so called low quality cup.
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Bumrah will bowl less overs over four weeks in this tournament than a single innings in a test match. And he played three test matches in England
 
Afghanistan made a mess TBH. They were playing with 10 players already, with Karam Jannat playing, but he was a freeloader and useless. As I said earlier, they need to stop relying on their bowlers every game and should try to make their batting work.
 
Pak is in middle ground

Top ranked team i would rank
Australia
india
England
Sa
nz
Pak

pakistan is 6th on the list imo
on given day they can beat Sa and nz too and all this talk of pakistan being ultra minnow is trash one off game means nothing
 
Ali Active said:
Pak is in middle ground

Top ranked team i would rank
Australia
india
England
Sa
nz
Pak

pakistan is 6th on the list imo
on given day they can beat Sa and nz too and all this talk of pakistan being ultra minnow is trash one off game means nothing
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India is miles ahead of everyone including Sena country.

We will play 5 match T20 series in australia in October , we will exposed Australian tullebaaz in their conditions

:kp
 
Devadwal said:
India is miles ahead of everyone including Sena country.

We will play 5 match T20 series in australia in October , we will exposed Australian tullebaaz in their conditions

:kp
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not really sure buddy india is great team but still i would rank australia above them due to their pressure handling skills india will fold under pressure aussies thrive under pressure
 
Ali Active said:
not really sure buddy india is great team but still i would rank australia above them due to their pressure handling skills india will fold under pressure aussies thrive under pressure
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Yes we have seen how they handled the pressure in World T20 2024 when they lost to Afghanistan and India. :kp
 
They need better fast bowlers.

Sediq, Zadran and Gurbaz are good but they need one more quality batsman at 4. That will be enough to become a mid tier team.
 
Where is that journalist who called Afg the second best, he should be given a third degree...
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Where is that journalist who called Afg the second best, he should be given a third degree...
Click to expand...


Btw whoever beat india , should crown as 2nd best Asian team.

But no one will beat so all the Medicore

:klopp :kp
 
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This thread is going to keep getting pumped. ICC event wil give us the clear picture. It is important to see how these teams do well against SENA teams who are in top 5 ranking.
 
BDfanforever said:
SL is better than Afg in T20 by ranking and by today's match.

Afg is on par with BD by ranking and by group stage match up. I expect BD to make significant improvements in T20s in the upcoming months.
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I like the new crop of BD players. They seem more skillful and confident.
 
Minnows always have short bursts of decent form.

Only Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka stand the test of time.
 
The Bald Eagle said:
Parallel universe
===
𝗥𝗔𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗗 𝗞𝗛𝗔𝗡 𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗦 𝟮𝟳 🎂

- 415 wickets in only 222 Internationals
- 12 Fifers, 16 Four-fers
- Youngest captain in Tests & ODIs
- Fastest to 100 T20I wickets
- 2nd fastest to 100 ODI wickets
- 2,107runs with 6 fifties

🥇 Highest wicket-taker in T20 cricket (672*)

Happy Birthday to the Afghan GOAT, the winner of so many franchise league titles, and one of the best leggies of this generation, Rashid Khan!
Click to expand...
27? He’s easily 35
 
jnaveen1980 said:
Afghanistan should have 8 batsmen minimum.
Click to expand...
They depend solely on Rashid and Nabi at 7-8 to get them into a fighting position

Their main problem is the 4-5 position. They have no choice but to play 2 batters there who are not good enough
 
India from all perspectives is the undisputed number one across all 3 formats in Asia for sure. I would be very interested if some one has a different view (not from bias but ) with actual factual reason to believe otherwise.


2nd best team in Asia is a
Close call between SL and Pakistan all 3 formats combined.

I would say in white ball Pakistan is ahead and red ball they maybe more or less on same page.

Afghanistan and Bangladesh is a close call for 3rd. Bangladesh is a way better test team and Afghanistan might be ahead in T20 but same level in odis. Sum of all
Parts- tied for 3rd.

So basically all of them are in the same ball park.

Watch out for Nepal, the way they beat WI, they probably have good spinners and on a dicey track in Asia never say never . For now a distant 4th but won’t be surprised one of these days they catch one of the above teams by surprise or even a big SENA team.
 
Rana said:
They depend solely on Rashid and Nabi at 7-8 to get them into a fighting position

Their main problem is the 4-5 position. They have no choice but to play 2 batters there who are not good enough
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In T20 it is better to be batting heavy than bowling heavy even if it means leaving out some top bowler. Rashid, Noor, Farooqui. Remaining 8 should be batsmen or all rounders or batsmen who can roll his arm over. If they can assemble a team like they will have much better structure.
 
chinaman00 said:
The 2nd best team in Asia is a wide open competition between Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
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Pakistan is currently the 2nd best team in Asia, but the gap between Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, especially in limited overs, is very small, so any one of these teams can beat one another on any given day, and it won't be an upset.

Anyway, being the 2nd-best team in Asia isn't some achievement that Pakistan fans should be proud of, especially when India is miles ahead in first as the best team from Asia.
 
Let us compare one specific stat for these teams

2025 stats

Pakistan has played 24 matches 98 single digit scores (dismissed)
Bangladesh has played 19 matches 71 single digit scores
Afghanistan 10 matches 35 single digit scores
Srilanaka 10 matches 41 single digit scores



As a comparioson

India 10 matches 31 single digits

Basically these teams don't bat for long periods. They rely a lot on cameos. Hence unpredictable results.
 
Afghanistan team to Pakistan , Bangladesh fans - we don't takes bilateral series seriously only takes ICC events 🤣

In recent ICC event's - Bangladesh has defeated both Pakistan, Bangladesh

:klopp :kp
 
Good to see that horrific batting from Afghanistan got punished on a very good batting surface. From being called as 2nd best Asian team to now the 5th best team comfortably. Their attitude towards batting needs major changes . The sooner they realize the better

:kp
 
They are far from being the 2nd best in Asia.

As a matter of fact, they are #5 in Asia currently based on what we have seen in the last 2 months.
 
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan has shared his thoughts regarding the ‘second-best in Asia’ tag:

“There’s always talk about us being the second-best team in Asia, but that’s not something we claimed ourselves,”

“That label came because of our past performances. If you look back — Asia Cup, World Cup semi-finals, ODI World Cup — we’ve beaten some top sides. Even in the Champions Trophy, we defeated England. Of course, in the future, if we don’t play well, we could slip to third, fourth, fifth, or lower,”

“Our goal is simply to improve as a team and deliver on the day. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t — that’s cricket. What matters is staying hungry to perform and aiming to get better every time. The whole ‘second-best in Asia’ narrative is just something the media has created, not us,”
 
When at their best, Asian rankings are -

1) Bharat
2) Afganistan
3) Pakistan and Sri Lanka (tied)
4) Bangladesh

On an average day -

1) Bharat
2) Pakistan
3) Sri Lanka
4) Afganistan and Bangladesh

Afganistan have the most ups and downs because of the sher-dil brand of Cricket they play. This "all or nothing" attitude makes them the second most watchable team in Asia.
 
Hikaru said:
When at their best, Asian rankings are -

1) Bharat
2) Afganistan
3) Pakistan and Sri Lanka (tied)
4) Bangladesh

On an average day -

1) Bharat
2) Pakistan
3) Sri Lanka
4) Afganistan and Bangladesh

Afganistan have the most ups and downs because of the sher-dil brand of Cricket they play. This "all or nothing" attitude makes them the second most watchable team in Asia.
Click to expand...
You should mention the format as well which makes a BIG difference.
 
Rana said:
They depend solely on Rashid and Nabi at 7-8 to get them into a fighting position

Their main problem is the 4-5 position. They have no choice but to play 2 batters there who are not good enough
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T20 cricket, they have a problem in Zadran, no matter where he bats. Against Top 10 sides, he has a strike rate of 101.

Extremely mediocre in this format.
 
In Test, we can setup a green pitch and easily beat them with our pace attack now.

In T20, we have started to get upper hand on them with our new set of players.

ODIs, not sure, because no one plays ODIs these days.

However, they are definitely an exciting team with all the limited resources they have.
 
Afghanistan's performance in recent tournaments aren't upto the mark, but 1 or 2 poor series doesn't make them average side. They are also trying few players in this series vs Bangladesh. Btw Afghanistan played very well in tournaments that matter the most - WC 2023 & T20 WC 2024. They have looked rusty in Asia Cup as well as in current series vs Bangladesh, but Bangladesh did well in Asia Cup recently by beating Sri Lanka as well as Afghanistan. Bangla also came within 11 runs of beating Pakistan and making the Asia Cup final.

Afghanistan will be back to their best in next year's T20 World Cup.
 
This second best in Asia shouldn't be an actual thing haha

I get fans will find ways to discuss cricket in weird ways, but actual journalists asking teams this is crazy.

There is no trophy for second best in Asia. It shouldn't be a serious discussion point.
 
BDfanforever said:
In Test, we can setup a green pitch and easily beat them with our pace attack now.

In T20, we have started to get upper hand on them with our new set of players.

ODIs, not sure, because no one plays ODIs these days.

However, they are definitely an exciting team with all the limited resources they have.
Click to expand...
Bangladesh are a much improved t20 side. Sure results haven't went completely your way but I feel like the style of play has changed considerably and from being completely out of your depth you are now in a position to challenge if not win.
 
2,3,4 is consistently fluctuating.. It's hard to choose between Lanka and Pakistan for 2,3 as they consistently perform equally. BD is overall better than Afghans and with wins in Pak and against Lanka consistently they are easily 3 or 4.
 
JaDed said:
2,3,4 is consistently fluctuating.. It's hard to choose between Lanka and Pakistan for 2,3 as they consistently perform equally. BD is overall better than Afghans and with wins in Pak and against Lanka consistently they are easily 3 or 4.
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1. India
2. Pakistan
3. SL/BD
4. SL/BD
5. Afghanistan
 
sweep_shot said:
1. India
2. Pakistan
3. SL/BD
4. SL/BD
5. Afghanistan
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Because Lanka has consistently performed equal to Pak:

2.Pak/Lanka
3.Pak/Lanka/BD
4.Pak/Lanka/BD

Lanka has won Asia cup in 2022 and BD won in Pak last time but Pak made it to finals of Asia cup this time.

I do think if BD gets consistent it would be consistently fluctuating between the three. Afghans are not going to be consistent anymore, atleast looks like that.
 
JaDed said:
Because Lanka has consistently performed equal to Pak:

2.Pak/Lanka
3.Pak/Lanka/BD
4.Pak/Lanka/BD

Lanka has won Asia cup in 2022 and BD won in Pak last time but Pak made it to finals of Asia cup this time.

I do think if BD gets consistent it would be consistently fluctuating between the three. Afghans are not going to be consistent anymore, atleast looks like that.
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After 2022, what have SL achieved? Not much.

SL lost to BD in 2023 WC and finished 9th (behind Pakistan and BD).
SL lost to BD in 2024 World T20. They departed from group stage while BD went to 2nd round.
SL couldn't make it to CT 2025

I think Pakistan are clear #2 based on performances from last 2 years.
 
sweep_shot said:
After 2022, what have SL achieved? Not much.

SL lost to BD in 2023 WC and finished 9th (behind Pakistan and BD).
SL lost to BD in 2024 World T20. They departed from group stage while BD went to 2nd round.
SL couldn't make it to CT 2025

I think Pakistan are clear #2 based on performances from last 2 years.
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Afghans achieved well in last 2 but i would still not put them on #3 or #4 because of where they are going...because of last two years is why i feel BD deserves to be #2 in fluctuation with Pak and Lanka. but anyhow lets see WC coming soon.
 
Afghans are declining now... Their performances have been below average when they face top 10 teams. Against associates, they are unbeatable.
 
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BouncerGuy said:
Afghans are declining now... Their performances have been below average when they face top 10 teams. Against associates, they are unbeatable.
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Their weakness is batting. Too many accumulators.

Also, pace attack became weaker.

Spin attack is still good.
 
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Afghan does not have a big talent pool, if certain players go out of form or suffer age related decline they do not have ready players to replace them.

I don’t know how good is there next generation or how much cricket their kids play but once this current generation retires they might go the Kenya,Zimbabwe route.
 
All these teams rely on having a perfect game. Pakistan probably can win even with imeprfect game among these countries. Winning matches with imperfect game is the next stage for Afghanistan.
 
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