Published: Jan 28, 2015, 11:43 AM (IST)
Edited: Jan 28, 2015, 02:47 PM (IST)
Kabul: Afghanistan will be participating in their maiden World Cup and their task to win even a single game in the tournament won’t be easy to get off the mark. They face Bangladesh in the opening game of their campaign and have to make a good start to have some sort of momentum going into the next games. They face former champions Sri Lanka and Australia. Also they’ll have their work cot-out when they face co=hosts New Zealand as well. Afghanistan, however, will look to put in a solid performance and try to cause an upset.
Afghanistan Squad for ICC World Cup 2015: Mohammad Nabi (captain), Afsar Zazai, Usman Ghani, Aftab Alam, Asghar Stanikzai, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Hamid Hasan, Javed Ahmadi, Najibullah Zadran, Mirwais Ashraf, Nasir Jamal, Nawroz Mangal, Shapoor Zadran, Samiullar Shenwari,
Coach: Andy Moles
Fixtures – Pool A:
Feb 18: Bangladesh, Canberra
Feb 22: Sri Lanka, Dunedin
Feb 26: Scotland, Dunedin
March 4: Australia, Perth
March 8: New Zealand, Napier
March 13, England, Sydney
World Cup record:
First appearance
Key player: Hamid Hasan. Former coach Kabir Khan believes a fully-fit Hasan could prove to be the key player for Afghanistan. The 27-year-old should take wickets on the bouncy Australian tracks and boasts 46 wickets from 24 ODIs with best figures of five for 45.
