Beginning in the mid 1800s, Cricket has been widely popular in Afghanistan, though progress on the international level was slow. In 1995, The Afghanistan Cricket Board was founded. Afghanistan became an affiliate member of ICC in 2001, after forming a national team. From 2008 to 2013, Afghanistan went from Division Five of the World Cricket League to an Associate Member. With consistent performances, they also were given full member status in 2017.
Afghanistan qualified for the 2015 Cricket World Cup after finishing as runners-up of the 2011-13 WCL Championship, marking their maiden appearance at the World Cup. The team was also successful in securing their first ever win at a World Cup, defeating Scotland. Afghanistan qualified for final of 2018 Qualifier and defeated the West Indies to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Their best performance came in 2023 edition where they secured 4 wins, defeating the likes of England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Cricket World Cup record
Cricket World Cup recordQualification recordYearRoundPositionCaptain 1975Not eligible (not an ICC member)Did not enter (not an ICC member) 1979 1983 1987 1992 1996 1999 2003Not an ICC member at time of qualifying 2007Did not qualify62400 20112822601 2015Group Stage12/1461500Mohammad Nabi2013601 2019League Stage10/1090900Gulbadin Naib85300 2023League Stage6/10945001814301 Total 0 Titles 3/13 24 5 19 0 0 80 56 22 0 2
World Cup Record (By Team)
Cricket World Cup matches (By team)Opponents Played Wins Losses Ties Win% 3 0 3 0 0% 3 0 3 0 0% 3 1 2 0 33.33% 3 1 2 0 33.33% 2 0 2 0 0% 2 0 2 0 0% 2 0 2 0 0% 2 1 1 0 50% 1 0 1 0 0% 1 1 0 0 100% 1 1 0 0 100% Total 23 5 18 0 21.73%
Tournament history 2015 Cricket World Cup
The 2015 Cricket World was the first Cricket World Cup Afghanistan participated in. Afghanistan was grouped with hosts Australia and New Zealand. The group also included test playing nations Sri Lanka, England and Bangladesh, along with Scotland.
Squad
Mohammad Nabi (c) Javed Ahmadi (vc) Afsar Zazai (wk) Nawroz Mangal Asghar Afghan Shafiqullah (wk) Samiullah Shenwari Najibullah Zadran Gulbadin Naib Hamid Hassan Shapoor Zadran Usman Ghani Aftab Alam Nasir Jamal Dawlat Zadran
Note: Mirwais Ashraf was replaced by Shafiqullah. Results Pool stage (Pool A)Quarter finalSemifinalFinalOverall ResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResult RankOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultL by 105 runsL by 4 wicketsW by 1 wicketL by 275 runsL by 6 wicketsL by 9 wickets (D/L)6Did not advancePool stage Scorecards
2019 Cricket World Cup
2019 World Cup was the second World Cup in which Afghanistan participated. This World Cup was in Round robin format where Afghanistan faced all the other teams which include Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka and West Indies, but did not manage to claim victory against any national team in the tournament.
Squad
Gulbadin Naib (c) Rashid Khan (vc) Mohammad Shahzad (wk) Noor Ali Zadran Hazratullah Zazai Rahmat Shah Hashmatullah Shahidi Asghar Afghan Mohammad Nabi Najibullah Zadran Samiullah Shenwari Mujeeb Ur Rahman Dawlat Zadran Aftab Alam Hamid Hassan
Results League stageSemifinalFinalOverall ResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResult RankOppositionResultOppositionResultL by 7 wicketsL by 34 runs (DLS)L by 7 wicketsL by 9 wickets (DLS)L by 150 runsL by 11 runsL by 62 runsL by 3 wicketsL by 23 runs10Did not advanceLeague stage Scorecards
2023 Cricket World Cup
The 2023 World Cup was the 3rd World Cup in which Afghanistan participated. The format remained same as previous edition. Afghanistan achieved landmark wins in the tournament, defeating traditional powerhouses England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, they also won against Netherlands thus finishing their campaign at 6th place with 4 wins.
Squad
Hashmatullah Shahidi (c) Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk) Ikram Alikhil (wk) Ibrahim Zadran Rahmat Shah Najibullah Zadran Mohammad Nabi Azmatullah Omarzai Riaz Hassan Rashid Khan Mujeeb Ur Rahman Noor Ahmad Fazalhaq Farooqi Abdul Rahman Naveen-ul-Haq
Results League stageSemifinalFinalOverall ResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResult RankOppositionResultOppositionResultL by 6 wicketsL by 8 wicketsW by 69 runsL by 149 runsW by 8 wicketsW by 7 wicketsW by 7 wicketsL by 3 wicketsL by 5 wickets6Did not advanceLeague stage Scorecards
Records and statistics
Team records Highest innings totals Score Opponent Venue Season 291/5 (50 overs) Mumbai 2023 288 (50 overs) Leeds 2019 286/2 (49 overs) Chennai 2023 284 (49.5 overs) Delhi 2023 272/8 (50 overs) Delhi 2023Last updated: 10 November 2023
Most appearances This list consists players with most number of matches at the Cricket World Cup. Mohammad Nabi played a total of 24 World Cup matches, the most for the team. Gulbadin Naib and Hashmatullah Shahidi have captained the team in 9 matches, sharing the record for most matches as captain.
Matches Player Period 24 Mohammad Nabi 2015–202318 Rahmat Shah 2019–2023 Rashid Khan 2019–2023 17 Hashmatullah Shahidi 2019–202316 Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2019–2023 Najibullah Zadran 2015–2023Last updated: 10 November 2023
Batting statistics Most runs Runs Player 100s 50s Period574 Rahmat Shah 18 18 33.76 4 2019–2023507 Hashmatullah Shahidi 17 17 36.21 5 2019–2023376 Ibrahim Zadran 9 9 47.00 1 1 2023–2023360 Najibullah Zadran 16 16 24.00 2 2015–2023353 Azmatullah Omarzai 9 8 70.60 3 2023–2023Last updated: 10 November 2023
Highest individual innings Score Player Opponent Venue Season 129*Ibrahim Zadran Mumbai 2023 97*Azmatullah Omarzai Ahmedabad 2023 96Samiullah Shinwari Dunedin 2015 87Ibrahim Zadran Chennai 2023 70*Ikram Alikhil Leeds 2019Last updated: 10 November 2023
Highest partnerships Runs Players Opposition Venue Season 133 (2nd wicket) Rahmat Shah (62) & Ikram Alikhil (67) v Leeds 2019 130 (1st wicket) Rahmanullah Gurbaz (65) & Ibrahim Zadran (62) v Chennai 2023 121 (4th wicket) Hashmatullah Shahidi (56) & Azmatullah Omarzai (62) v Delhi 2023 114 (1st wicket) Rahmanullah Gurbaz (75) & Ibrahim Zadran (28) v Delhi 2023 111* (4th wicket) Hashmatullah Shahidi (33*) & Azmatullah Omarzai (73*) v Pune 2023Last updated: 10 November 2023
Bowling statistics Most wickets Wickets Player Matches 4W 5W Period 21 Mohammad Nabi 24 40.47 4.72 2 0 2015–2023 17 Rashid Khan 18 47.29 5.07 0 0 2019–2023 15 Mujeeb Ur Rahman 16 47.80 5.13 0 0 2019–2023 14 Dawlat Zadran 10 38.28 6.70 0 0 2015–2019 10 Shapoor Zadran 6 26.50 5.19 1 0 2015–2015 Gulbadin Naib 10 47.30 6.33 0 0 2015–2019Last updated: 10 November 2023
Best bowling figures Bowling Figures Overs Player Opponent Venue Season 4/30 9.0 Mohammad Nabi v Cardiff 2019 4/34 10.0 Fazalhaq Farooqi v Pune 2023 4/38 10.0 Shapoor Zadran v Dunedin 2015 3/28 9.3 Mohammad Nabi v Lucknow 2023 3/29 10.0 Dawlat Zadran v Dunedin 2015Last updated: 10 November 2023
See also Afghanistan national cricket team Cricket in Afghanistan
References