CWC 2019, SWOT Analysis – Afghanistan

Heading into their second 50-over World Cup, Afghanistan will be under immense pressure from fans back in their own country. After the 2015 World Cup, Afghanistan has emerged as a beacon of light in international cricket, with their skills impressing one and all. They have some extremely talented players in their ranks who are capable of causing some major upsets when the tournament starts.

Afghanistan does not have the pressure to make it to the semi-final stages of the tournament, as no one expects them to win many matches. But the 9 teams who come up against them will have to be extremely careful and be at their best as the match could prove to be a potential banana skin.

Here we do a SWOT analysis of the Afghanistan squad and take a look at how they could prove to be threatening opponents for their opposition.

Squad: Gulbadin Naib (C), Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb ur Rahman.

Strengths – 

For a team which is fairly new to World Cricket, Afghanistan already have a quality bowling attack due to the presence of some world-class spinners. Rashid Khan has established himself as one of the best spinners in the world in both ODI and T20 cricket. He will be backed up by Mujeeb ur Rahman, whose mystery has proven difficult for many batsmen to decode. Mohammad Nabi will complete the bowling trio and he can prove to be a ticky customer to negotiate with his experience and subtle changes in pace. The 30 overs from the trio will be tough for many batsmen to negotiate, especially the ones who have not mastered the art of playing spin bowling.

Weaknesses –

Afghanistan’s batting depth looks paper thin and can be exposed by good bowling attacks. A lot will depend on the kind of starts which Mohammad Shahzad can get them off to. Though the batting lineup has performed well in T20 cricket, the ODI format is quite a different proposition. As strong as their spin bowling is, the pace department is relatively weak and bowling on batting friendly wickets in England could prove to be a big challenge for them. There was also a big controversy on the sacking of the experienced Asghar Afghan as the captain before the tournament. It will be a big challenge for his successor, Gulbadin Naib to marshal his troops.

Opportunities –

Playing in their second 50-over World Cup, bigger things will be expected from Afghanistan. They have come a long way in a short duration in international cricket and the experience of playing against some of the best players in the world will only stand their talented bunch of players in good stead.

Threats –

Despite the presence of some quality players in their ranks, it will be tough for the Afghanistan team to win matches during the 2019 edition of the tournament. They will especially find it tough against the likes of England, India, South Africa and Australia and putting up a competitive performance against them will be seen as a big sign of progress. They will realistically target matches against the likes of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to clinch a couple of victories and make a big statement that they have well and truly arrived on the global stage.