Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)_Monitoring, Afghanistan’s win over England brought a new sense of enthusiasm to the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Besides shaking up the points table, Afghanistan have shown that they can beat any side in the tournament on their day.
Afghanistan will take heart in the fact that in their first ODI win since July 2023, the side didn’t bank on one particular player to fire for them.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz blazed at the top, Ikram Alikhil fought hard during the middle overs while the likes of Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman made important all-round contributions.
However, New Zealand aren’t a side that will roll over easily. Despite yet another injury blow, in the form of losing Kane Williamson to a finger fracture during their Bangladesh game, the Black Caps have had an enviable run in the tournament.
All their three wins have come by a comfortable margin, and most of their players have shown great form.
Mujeeb however, played a big role in Afghanistan’s surprise win over England, with a brilliant cameo with the bat down the order and then picking up three important wickets. Two of these came in the middle overs, and derailed the England chase.
Adept at bowling across the innings, and a successful operative across conditions, Mujeeb will no doubt be expected to play an important role in Chennai as well. If the wicket turns out to be on a slightly slow side, his off-spin can prove to be more than handy.
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