[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Afghanistan are, if not quite a cricketing fairytale, then certainly a story with a feelgood factor. Their first World Cup appearance in 2015, coupled with a maiden one-wicket victory over Scotland, was a landmark for a nation whose rise in the sport has been meteoric. In the four years since, they've gained Test status and continued to claim white-ball scalps as they vie for dominance of their own subsection of world cricket, nibbling at the heels of the top 8. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan debuted on the big stage in the 2016 World T20 at the age of just sixteen, and within a year he'd been snapped up by Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL on his way to becoming one of the most dangerous and prolific bowlers in the world. Rashid's devastating, unpickable googlies were a key weapon in Afghanistan's successful 2018 Asia Cup campaign, in which they topped their group with victories over Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, then tied with India and lost to Pakistan only by three wickets; a defeat they avenged last Friday at Bristol in a tense warm-up match. This will be the young man's first World Cup, and backed by the likes of Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the Afghanistan bowling attack could cause some serious upsets; with leading World Cup wicket-taker Shapoor Zadran missing out, I'd certainly expect one of that trio to surpass his haul in 2019.

Just how many upsets, and how far it'll take them, is largely down to conditions and weight of runs. The Afghans have a surfeit of spinners that may come unstuck on pitches that don't turn; as for batting, while veteran Mohammad Shahzad is still a reliable hand, there's a certain amount of excitement and expectation surrounding 21-year-old left-hander Hazratullah Zazai, who's already made his name on the T20 circuit with back-to-back half-centuries against Ireland, then six sixes in an over for Kabul Zwanan in the Afghanistan Premier League last October, before blasting another 162 in 62 balls against Ireland in February as his nation set a new world-record T20 total of 278. For all that, there's no telling just yet whether Zazai's talent can transfer to the fifty-over game, and there remains a certain one-dimensional weakness at the heart of this ODI side which only time and further development will rectify. Nevertheless, I'd be very surprised if Afghanistan don't go at least one better than their single win in 2015, and - whisper it quietly - it may just be one of the traditional heavyweights who comes crashing down to earth at the hands of Rashid, Nabi, Zazai and co.

Highest World Cup total: 232 vs Sri Lanka (Dunedin, 2015)
Lowest World Cup total: 111-7 vs England (Sydney, 2015)
Leading World Cup run-scorer: Samiullah Shinwari, 254 runs
Leading World Cup wicket-taker: Shapoor Zadran, 10 wickets


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