Third day of the warm-up games and it was a day where three of the four associates were playing. One of the warm-up match was a match of unequals between India and Afghanistan and then there was a match of the equals between Ireland and Scotland. I must mention here that I had the privilege to be among these three associates in 2010 during the world cricket league division 1 tournament. One thing that catches attention immediately when one is in their company is their indomitable spirit, to be there tirelessly irrespective of the limited opportunities that they have.
Afghanistan's journey thus far has been a fairy tale. What I wrote about Afghanistan way back in 2009. They were an affiliate way back in May 2008 when they entered the WCL Div 5 and now Afghanistan has been awarded Associate membership in June 2013 . Since 2009, they have retained their ODI status along with Ireland and Scotland. This is their first 50 overs world cup. They missed to get into the 2011 edition by a whisker. Similarly they made it to the 2015 edition also by a whisker. The method to qualify for 2011 was different from what they had to go through in 2009. They finished second in ICC World Cricket League Championship to qualify for the world cup. But in the ICC ODI rank they still stand above Ireland.
Hamid Hassan who is their most prolific and highly regarded player could not be part of the ICC T20 in 2014 and 2012 (the major ICC events that Afghanistan had been part of). It is not that he had not been in those squads but somehow injury kept him away during the main events. Having him in the 50 over format will definitely give Afghanistan a boost in the bowling department. The Zadrans too have done very well for them in the pace bowling department. This time they will also be without the services of their mercurial batsman Mohammad Shehzad. But in Asghar, Mangal, Nabi and Shenwari they have the depth and the experience in batting.
I have been following them since 2008 when they first emerged in the scene and I feel that they are a team that work in a burst mode. They play in patches. There will be a spell of bowling that will catch your imagination and there will be a flair of batsmanship that you will sit back and enjoy and all of a sudden, the pedal will be off the gas and they will find themselves in precarious situation. This is not just against the full members but even against the associates. This is where they have to work on.
Consistency is the gap that needs to be filled in when associates play against a full member. Obviously that is not going to happen if these associates do not get to play the full members very often. I am surprised that the associates do not get to play the full members during both the warm-ups. Warm-up should serve them as an exposure against quality opponents. Instead what happens is Ireland play against Scotland (they play against each other so many times) Afghanistan plays against UAE. How will they improve their game when there is not enough opportunity. The world cup is being reduced to a 10 team affair in 2019 and expecting even one of the associate countries to make the cut then would be a big ask. At least this world cup offers them to compete against 5 test nations in one go. But having to play them only once in 4 years which would now become more (as world cup will be a 10 team affair), is neither going to help them nor the cricket across the globe. Since the 2011 World Cup, Ireland have played only 11 ODIs against full members and Afghanistan have played only 10 in total. Neither Scotland nor UAE have been so fortunate.
Ireland has the history of an upset, Afghanistan is a resilient and spirited team, Scotland had lot of world cup appearances and still to open and account and UAE in its second appearance will be trying to prove that they are here to stay.
Afghanistan's journey thus far has been a fairy tale. What I wrote about Afghanistan way back in 2009. They were an affiliate way back in May 2008 when they entered the WCL Div 5 and now Afghanistan has been awarded Associate membership in June 2013 . Since 2009, they have retained their ODI status along with Ireland and Scotland. This is their first 50 overs world cup. They missed to get into the 2011 edition by a whisker. Similarly they made it to the 2015 edition also by a whisker. The method to qualify for 2011 was different from what they had to go through in 2009. They finished second in ICC World Cricket League Championship to qualify for the world cup. But in the ICC ODI rank they still stand above Ireland.
Hamid Hassan who is their most prolific and highly regarded player could not be part of the ICC T20 in 2014 and 2012 (the major ICC events that Afghanistan had been part of). It is not that he had not been in those squads but somehow injury kept him away during the main events. Having him in the 50 over format will definitely give Afghanistan a boost in the bowling department. The Zadrans too have done very well for them in the pace bowling department. This time they will also be without the services of their mercurial batsman Mohammad Shehzad. But in Asghar, Mangal, Nabi and Shenwari they have the depth and the experience in batting.
I have been following them since 2008 when they first emerged in the scene and I feel that they are a team that work in a burst mode. They play in patches. There will be a spell of bowling that will catch your imagination and there will be a flair of batsmanship that you will sit back and enjoy and all of a sudden, the pedal will be off the gas and they will find themselves in precarious situation. This is not just against the full members but even against the associates. This is where they have to work on.
Consistency is the gap that needs to be filled in when associates play against a full member. Obviously that is not going to happen if these associates do not get to play the full members very often. I am surprised that the associates do not get to play the full members during both the warm-ups. Warm-up should serve them as an exposure against quality opponents. Instead what happens is Ireland play against Scotland (they play against each other so many times) Afghanistan plays against UAE. How will they improve their game when there is not enough opportunity. The world cup is being reduced to a 10 team affair in 2019 and expecting even one of the associate countries to make the cut then would be a big ask. At least this world cup offers them to compete against 5 test nations in one go. But having to play them only once in 4 years which would now become more (as world cup will be a 10 team affair), is neither going to help them nor the cricket across the globe. Since the 2011 World Cup, Ireland have played only 11 ODIs against full members and Afghanistan have played only 10 in total. Neither Scotland nor UAE have been so fortunate.
Ireland has the history of an upset, Afghanistan is a resilient and spirited team, Scotland had lot of world cup appearances and still to open and account and UAE in its second appearance will be trying to prove that they are here to stay.
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