ICC World Cup 2019 | Afghanistan will certainly give a scare to certain teams, says Anil Kumble

Afghanistan’s rise in international cricket has been awe-inspiring; the Afghan cricketers have not only developed on an individual basis but also as a team. They have few match-winners, who can win games single-handedly on a given day and the team has fared well in recent times. 

Afghanistan beat West Indies in the World Cup qualifiers final last year and announced themselves on the big stage. They were equally effective in the Asia Cup and one just cannot write off the budding side in the upcoming World Cup this year. Former Indian cricketer Anil Kumble has said that Afghanistan will definitely give a scare to few teams in England. 

“Afghanistan was the second-best team in the Asia Cup. They tied the game against India, gave a scare to Bangladesh and Pakistan. Afghanistan as a whole has been helped by players playing T20 leagues around the world. Rashid Khan is a hero and Mohammad Nabi is fantastic as an all-rounder, there is Mujeeb and some other wonderful players. They will certainly give a scare to certain teams in England,” Kumble said, reported CricketNext. 

In Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Afghanistan have two mystery spinners, who have been effective in T20s across the globe while their batting have the firepower of Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad, Hazratullah Zazai and Rahmat Shah.

“In the shorter formats especially T20s batsmen don’t pick some like Rashid or Mujeeb. If they can get their batting together and score 250-260 they’ll be very competitive Mohammad Shahzad can just go and blast or get out first ball. He is that sort of player who can put the opposition under pressure. They have the ability but all depends on how their batsmen are able to cope,” Kumble added.