A fine showing against Australia in their 2019 ICC World Cup opener was enough to determine how well the Afghanistan cricket team has progressed in such a short time. After all, it is only their second World Cup, yet several expect them to create a massive upset at one point in the tournament.

What endorses the aforementioned assertion is their recent showing, especially in the shortest format of the game, T20 cricket. Since January 2018, they haven’t lost a single T20 international. And although the victories have come against the likes of Ireland and Zimbabwe, the statement of intent has been asserted through mere perfection.

The ODI format though remains a completely different ball game. This particular scheme of the sport requires a greater understanding of the game which certainly does not involve hitting every ball. The understanding of managing or rotating the strike also happens to be a significant trait of the game.

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Yet for Afghanistan, the only pair that seem to have perceived this fact is of their captain Gulbadin Naib and Najibullah Zadran. In their second game at the World Cup against Sri Lanka, Naib seemed to have no second thought while he decided to ball first. The track was complementing the Afghans’ plan for the game. Sri Lanka, on their part, couldn’t have asked for a better all-around start. Afghanistan’s seamers not only lacked the line and discipline but were also leaking unnecessary runs. And on a bigger canvas, this is exactly what went wrong for them in the end.

Compared to Sri Lanka’s 17, Afghanistan gave away 35 extras (lb 10, nb 3, w 22).

But as soon as the spinners took guard, the plot thickened. And from 144/1, Sri Lanka went down to 180/8 in no time. They simply had no answers to Mohammad Nabi’s artistry. But however brilliant their spinners were; they were equally deficient with the bat. And for the second time running, the humiliation was bypassed by Naib and Zadran’s 64-run stand.

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The rest of their order was bettered by an equally blazing bowling performance by Nuwan Pradeep and Lasith Malinga, who ended up picking seven wickets between them. All Afghanistan were to do was to rotate the strike one ball at a time. But then again, this is where the experience of the highest order comes into question.

The Afghans were doomed by the lack of patience and the lack of an understanding of the situation. Most of them were obsessed with big hits and failed to play the game in phases. This tactic might win you games in T20, but the ODIs is a different deed altogether. And the perfect testament to the fact remains that in the first powerplay where Sri Lanka had posted 79/0, the Afghans had lost three for just 46 runs.

After a relatively strong start by Hazratullah Zazai -- while chasing 187 in 41 overs -- the batting order crumbled to an extent that they lost four wickets within 15 runs. And for that matter, Naib had a perfect response in his post-match presentation. “We need improvement in the batting department, need to learn to stitch small partnerships, especially against such quality bowling. We could have batted better, played straighter and watched the ball better,” he said.

It was supposed to be an easy route for the Afghans. But were they undone by a brilliant Lankan bowling attack? In all honesty, it was their old frailties of being ineffective with the bat which shooed away the stars who were already aligned in their favour.

Feature Image Courtesy: AFP Photo/ Geoff Caddick

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World Cup 2019AfghanistanSri Lanka