[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi ©, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq.

Almost nine years on from their fairytale debut in a major ICC tournament, Afghanistan's record remains as it was in spring 2015: one solitary one-wicket victory over Scotland the fading feather in their cap. There should have been at least one more scalp in 2019, when then-skipper Gulbadeen Naib had Pakistan on the ropes until he bowled himself in the final over of the match - despite other bowlers with better figures being available to him - and threw it away; alas, these are the hard lessons Afghanistan have had to learn on the pitch while chaos and madness have engulfed their country off it.

But with Jonathan Trott at the helm the Afghans do seem to be evolving nicely, blooding talented youth while keeping experienced heads at the heart of the team. The latter category includes the last two veterans from that legendary triumph over Scotland, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Nabi, as well as stalwarts like Rashid Khan and Naveen ul Haq (called up after almost three years absent from ODIs, and apparently intending to be T20-exclusive again in future). For the youngsters, hype can often prove premature: left-handed opener Hazratullah Zazai was the Next Big Thing in 2019, but barely played another ODI beyond that tournament after failing to adjust his T20 style to the longer format; his successors are the settled opening partnership of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, both born in a six-week period when US forces were sweeping into their country in late 2001. Alongside the spin arsenal of Rashid, Mujeeb and Nabi, 23-year-old left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi will also be looking to swing the new ball and nail slow yorkers at the death. The promise of seeing Afghanistan finally unleashed on World Cup surfaces that suit their spinners is tantalising, though events in the Asia Cup suggest there's still a way to go before the upstarts can consistently deliver against their regional neighbours; certainly the pressure is on Rashid Khan, whose career stats against the nine other teams in this tournament are a passable 41 wickets from 30 matches at 28.80, to become the true generational great he has the potential to be.

Lacking the consistency and the strength in depth to make it all the way, Afghanistan should at least be the possessors of another World Cup scalp or two by November, and you can only hope that prospect is a beacon for their countrymen scattered to the four corners of the world, pitching wickets like sacred totems wherever they go.

Highest World Cup total: 288 vs West Indies (Headingley, 2019)
Lowest World Cup total: 111-7 vs England (Sydney, 2015)
Highest World Cup innings: 96, Samiullah Shenwari vs Scotland (Dunedin, 2015)
Best World Cup bowling figures: 4-30, Mohammed Nabi vs Sri Lanka (Cardiff, 2019)
Leading World Cup run-scorer: Najibullah Zadran, 353 runs
Leading World Cup wicket-taker: Dawlat Zadran, 14 wickets


Tournament Schedule: Bangladesh, India, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Australia, South Africa