Afghanistan Playing 11 vs Netherlands – ICC World Cup 2023, Match 34

Afghanistan will take on the Netherlands in match 34 of the ICC World Cup 2023 in Lucknow on Friday. November 3. The match starts from 2 pm IST and the Afghans have an opportunity to win three on the bounce.

Afghanistan are heading into this game on the back of consecutive wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. They previously defeated defending champions England in Delhi earlier in the campaign.

Afghanistan have followed a careful approach in the last two games. They have won both games chasing having trusted their batters to do the job for them. The top and the middle-order. Skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi and Rahmat Shah did the bulk of the scoring in the last two games giving glimpses of good batting depth in the side. Azmatullah Omarzai also scored a fifty in the last game giving good promise to the batting lineup.

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The Afghanistan spinners will be licking their lips playing on a track that has aided spin throughout the tournament. They will back themselves to bowl out the Netherlands who have not been consistent with their performances.

The Afghans have notched up three wins and are placed sixth on the points table as of now. Another win against the Netherlands will take them to eight points and probably over Pakistan on the points table. Having won their last two games convincingly, they will be confident of pulling off a third straight win.

Afghanistan Playing 11 vs Netherlands – ICC World Cup 2023, Match 34

Rahmanullah Gurbaz (WK)

Gurbaz will open the batting for Afghanistan. So far in the tournament, he has scored 224 runs in six games in the World Cup so far. He is the second-highest run-scorer for his team in this tournament. He has scored five centuries in ODI format for Afghanistan.

Ibrahim Zadran

Zadran will open the batting with Gurbaz. He has been consistent at the top of the order for his team. Against Sri Lanka, he scored 39 runs. So far in the tournament, he has scored 212 runs in six games. He is the second-highest run-getter for his team in the World Cup.

Rahmat Shah

Rahmat Shah will slot in at three. He has scored back to back fifties in the last two games. Against Sri Lanka, he scored 62 followed by an unbeaten 77 against Pakistan. He has also scored over 200 runs in the tournament.

Hashmatullah Shahidi (C)

Shahidi will bat at five. He has been batting with a lot more intent now since the last few games. As a skipper also he has been making the right moves on the field. He needs top keep his form going for his side.

Azmatullah Omarzai

Omarzai will bat at five. He scored an unbeaten 77 and along with his skipper took his side home against Sri Lanka. His bowling skills makes him an useful all-rounder in the playing XI.

Nabi can slot in at six and play the finisher’s role. He has not been needed in the last few games with the top-order doing most of the scoring. He is also one of the three specialist spinners in the side.

Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan can slot in at seven. He is now more of an all-rounder than a specialist spinner. He picked up 1/50 in the last match and has picked up seven wickets in six games so far. The previous match was his 100th ODI.

Noor Ahmad

Afghanistan can include Noor Ahmad in place of Ikram Alikhil who injured his right arm while keeping in the previous match. Noor can be the additional spinner in the side. He picked up 3/49 against Pakistan in Chennai.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Mujeeb will be the third fourth specialist spinner in the side. So far in this tournament, he has picked up six wickets in six games. He is one short of 100 ODI wickets.

Fazalhaq Farooqi

Farooqi has picked up six wickets in the tournament so far and is the spearhead of the Afghanistan pace attack. Against Sri Lanka, he picked up 4/34. He is closing in on 50 ODI wickets.

Naveen-Ul-Haq

Naveen concludes the likely playing XI for Afghanistan. He went wicketless in the match against Sri Lanka. He spoke about retiring from ODI cricket after the World Cup.

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