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Afghanistan vs Pakistan | World Cup 2019 | Leeds | 29 June | Match Discussion

Don't underestimate nor overestimate the Afghans. They will try hard, but they are limited.

Go hard and indeed try to increase the NRR.
 
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Go hard and indeed try to increase the NRR.

Both NZ and Eng, 3rd and 4th Slot up for grabs in the Semis, they are open slots for now,. Maybe play Asif Ali to try to up N.R.R by scoring 300+ depending on the Headlingly Leeds ground conditions.

There is just roughly 2.0 NRR difference between Pak and NZ. And 1 point with England. If NZ loses two matches and we win two matches it'll automatically come down to 0.5 difference or less..... so if we smash Afghanistan badly - we should go ahead of NZ in overall N.R.R with teams sitting at 11 points each and N.R.R comes into contention.
 
The interim Afghan cricket boss made tall claims of being far better than Pakistan in cricket currently, despite being at the bottom of the points table during the World Cup.

“We are currently far better than Pakistan in cricket and they should ask us for technical, coaching and more support for the betterment of their cricket,” Asadullah has been quoted saying.
 
The interim Afghan cricket boss made tall claims of being far better than Pakistan in cricket currently, despite being at the bottom of the points table during the World Cup.

“We are currently far better than Pakistan in cricket and they should ask us for technical, coaching and more support for the betterment of their cricket,” Asadullah has been quoted saying.

Afghans are day dreaming.
 
Ricky pointing described Pakistan perfectly when he said that

" Pakistan beats whoever they want to beat and they lose from whoever they want to. It's not Pakistan vs the opposition. Its Pakistan vs Pakistan "
 
Pakistan Team to Play, Consistent XI or Make some Changes?
  1. Imam-ul Haq (Not Performing as much, drop with Asif Ali or both Babar Azam and Fakhar open together)
  2. Fakhar Zaman (Unpredictable shot selection but ok!)
  3. Babar Azam
  4. Haris Sohail
  5. Hafeez (Very Poor Shot selection, Change batting position)
  6. Safraz Ahmed (No batting performance yet)
  7. Imad Wasim ( Bowling poorly, Can be dropped)
  8. Shahdab Khan
  9. Wahab Riaz ( Looks tired give him rest)
  10. M.Amir (Give him rest for 1 game)
  11. Shaheen Shah Afridi
Hassan Ali, Asif Ali, Hasnain and Shoaib Malik to sit outside and just watch the match.

Well on the other hand - Fast bowlers, Amir's tiring shoulder , and Wahab Riaz must be exhausted playing continous 50 Over matches with short time intervals back to back....require rest.

Just my two cents suggestions.

I agree that its difficult for bowlers to have back to back matches, but Amir and Wahab are crucial for taking wickets, Hassan is not in form and there is no replacement for both Amir and Wahab. The next match against Ban is next week so I guess that will be time to get rest
 
An opportunity to keep the Afghanistan-Pakistan rivalry dignified

It might be difficult to believe for outsiders, but there are many cricket fans in India and Pakistan who find the cricket matches between the two sides unbearable. It brings with it vulgar jingoism and ill will; outside the actual cricket, it is just an ugly spectacle. Pakistan's late surge on the back of a lifeline handed to them by Sri Lanka's stunning win over England has made a second India-Pakistan match a distinct possibility. If India do Pakistan a favour by beating England this Sunday, they will likely top the table and Pakistan could enter the semi-final at No. 4, setting up a semi-final clash at Old Trafford.

Pakistan still need a couple - even one can do - of other results to go their way, but also have to win their two remaining games. In the way of another match marred by jingoism, then, stands a match that comes with its own unpleasantness. On Saturday, Pakistan will go up against their other neighbours Afghanistan. As a cricket rivalry, it is still in its infancy. The two sides have faced each other only four times in international cricket. The truth, though, is that it would never have needed on-field action for this rivalry to generate needle.

The ingredients are all there. Unlike India and Pakistan, they were not the same country, but they were never different either. The Durand Line, the border between the two countries, was drawn up in 1893 to restrict Afghanistan's influence in British India, and Britain's in Afghanistan. As far as borders go, it is one of the more porous. Refugees and drugs and terror and America's influence have travelled unchecked through this border until it was tightened in 2017.

Just like with the two Punjabs that the 1947 partition gave us, people either side of the Durand Line have more in common with each other than with some people within their own country. It has divided people that were Pashtun well before they were Afghans or Pakistani or Indian. When USSR invaded Afghanistan, the Pashtun people found refuge in Peshawar. Selling nuts in Pakistan and coming back with cotton fabric was a legitimate business for Afghans - and vice versa for Pakistanis - until recently. Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib's family had been in that business even before Pakistan existed. Naib didn't know till he was 11 that he was from Afghanistan because he grew up a refugee in Pakistan. Almost every family has relations on the other side of the border.

PCB played a big role in the development of these cricketers - including letting them play in its domestic tournaments - and also cricket in Afghanistan.

The break-up began when India's government felt the need to strengthen ties with Afghanistan to keep in check China's influence, which comes via Pakistan. Cricket was but a vehicle for this charm diplomacy. In the mid-2010s, grants, permission to use Indian grounds as their home venue, and a Test debut against India all reached Afghanistan pretty swiftly. It helped the Indian government that the BCCI was under a ruling party member of parliament's control now; previous board chief N Srinivasan is known to have resisted similar advances from the Afghanistan Cricket Board.

This cricket co-operation from India came at an obvious cost: culling of ties with Pakistan. For many flaws of the PCB, even the ICC felt this was an ideal and organic model of how a full member could help an associate member of the ICC. Now, though, the Afghan players were asked to stop living and playing in Pakistan; they were even stopped from giving Pakistan too much credit for their development as cricketers or talking about their time in Pakistan. They don't even speak Urdu in press conferences anymore.

This has infuriated Pakistan. Every time Rashid - especially him - gives credit to India or speaks well of India, message boards and social media go abuzz. In a tense Asia Cup game last year, Rashid wagged his finger in the general direction of the dismissed Pakistan batsman Asif Ali. This was a red rag. Here was a man who wanted to be like Shahid Afridi but had now ditched his celebration and wagged a finger at a Pakistan batsman. Stories began to emerge of how he still held a house in Pakistan, and how he had a Pakistan ID. As if celebrating success against Pakistan is a sign of ingratitude.

No player or PCB member says it, but they feel "betrayed" palpably by the "ingrates". There were signs of schadenfreude when ACB's acting CEO Asadullah Khan, tongue-in-cheek, offered Pakistan help last week as they struggled for results, claiming in a TV interview that Afghanistan were both better at cricket, and had better technical resources. The CEO before him said last year that they had received more assistance from India than from Pakistan. It is a complicated situation as it is; add politics to it, and this is recipe for nastiness to attach itself with the cricket.

On the field, though, just like between India and Pakistan, things don't get ugly; or no uglier than in, say, India-Australia matches. In the match that Rashid angered so many Pakistan fans with his celebration, Afghanistan came close to beating the stronger and more-fancied team.

Shoaib Malik had to dig deep to help Pakistan win in the last over, but Pakistan were quick to console the crestfallen Afghan players. In Pakistan's pre-match press conference at this World Cup, Haris Sohail was told about the comments made by the ACB CEO, and he laughed it off. When Naib was asked if there would be extra tension in the match, he actually said he hoped cricket could be used to mend relations between the two countries. The match on Saturday is a good opportunity to prevent these contests from going down the India-Pakistan way.
 
With all its Flaws i would suggest better to stick with its openers
Imam
Fakhar
Babar
Haris
Sarfraz
Hafeez
Ali/Imad - both can do go hard - from past record Imad had performed his role better than asif
Shadab
Shaheen If can follows his line & lenght like last game otherwise go with husnain
Wahab
Amir

I would send Hafeez down the order rather than sending him above haris
Haris and Babar had shown much better strike rotation between them than others
Imad & Asif Ali it depends Imad can ball while Asif is pure striker.
If Pakistan go with Asif and Send him up the order and he is able to stay he can be deadly in middle & depth overs
 
New Zealand played same players for 6 games straight and were undefeated until last game. Pakistan has won 2 games in a row with same players. Why should they change? Give 1 good reason.
 
Pakistan should drop one opener and promote babar azam as an opener
that would be leaving middle order completely vulnerable. Hafeez should be promoted as opener, drop imam and bring in another replacement for hafeez would be a good strategy in my humble opinion, Babar is a rock at that position.
 
Afg should bat first . Post 280 above and the match is theirs...if afg bats second they will lose
 
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