Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh): Afghanistan is the team to watch out for this World Cup as it has created three upsets. It first stunned defending champions England at the Kotla, then got the better of the 1992 World Cup championship Pakistan at the Chepauk and then Sri Lanka at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. So, when Afghanistan takes on the Netherlands at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Stadium on Friday in a league stage fixture, the Asian side will be favourites to win the encounter.
For Afghanistan, their world-class spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman, and Mohammed Nabi can run through the Netherlands batting order, especially on a track that aids tweakers. For Afghanistan, their pacer Fazal ul Haq Farooqi had wreaked havoc against Sri Lanka in the last game by taking a four-for. In all likelihood, he would be retained in the playing 11. Afghanistan batters have also improved substantially in this edition of the World Cup and have performed together as a unit. For the Asian side, skipper Hashmat Shahidi (226 runs from six innings) has led from the front and has chipped in with vital contributions. The second-highest run-getter for the Jonathan Trott-coached side is opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who has 224 runs from six innings. Others, including Rahmat Shah, and Azmatullah Omarzai, have been contributing with the bat. If all the batters fire in unison, they can chase or post a mammoth total.
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