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Afghanistan are going to play in their third consecutive ICC ODI World Cup in their short cricketing history. They have managed to qualify as a top eight team for the quadrennial event, set to be played in India in 2023, through the ICC ODI Super League, a competition played for three years between the 13 participating nations.
In their first-ever appearance at the ODI World Cup, which was played in Australia and New Zealand in 2015, the Afghanistan cricket team made history by winning their first-ever match against Scotland after making the event through the World Cricket League Championship. In four years' time, they barely qualified for the ODI World Cup in England and Wales through the qualifier tournament, while their performances in the main tournament were poor, losing nine straight matches in a row.
Since 2019, Afghanistan has played some of their best cricket in the ODI format, beating teams like Ireland, Netherlands, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and Sri Lanka, a few of which are going to participate in the upcoming World Cup. With that in mind, SportsTiger looks at the probable squad for Afghanistan in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023:
Batters: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Noor Ali Zadran
The current captain of the Afghanistan cricket team, Hashmatullah Shahidi is one of the most accomplished batters in the ODI lineup. Najibullah Zadran has been the mainstay of the national team in the batting department for quite some time, irrespective of the format.
Ibrahim Zadran is young opening batter for Afghanistan, who boasts an average of 60-plus in the ODIs with three centuries in his first 11 matches. Hazratullah Zazai and Noor Ali Zadran have the experience of playing regular limited overs cricket, so their inclusion in the ODI World Cup squad won’t be a bad idea as far the selectors are concerned.
