Hyderabad: Afghanistan, who are no longer underdogs, have already recorded two upsets in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. First, they trounced the defending champions England at the Kotla by 69 runs on October 15. Then the Asian side stunned Pakistan, who had won the ODI World Cup in 1992, by eight wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Monday.
Courtesy of the two wins, Afghanistan, who have former India batter Ajay Jadeja in their support staff, is currently placed at the sixth spot in the points table having six points. They are above Bangladesh (seventh spot), the Netherlands (eighth spot), Sri Lanka (ninth spot), and defending champions England (10th and last spot). The current net run rate of Afghanistan is -0.969.
The million-dollar question for cricket buffs is can Afghanistan, which has world-class spinners - Rashid Khan, Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman and Mohammed Nabi - can make the semi-finals of the ongoing marquee tournament. Afghanistan are in contention to make the last four stage and will need to win all their remaining four games of the league stage. If Afghanistan win all their remaining matches, they will have 12 points.