ODI World Cup team previews : Australia , Afghanistan

 


With the ICC ODI World Cup to start off on October 5 , all the 10 teams have finalized their squads with five times champions Australia and twice champions India doing in on the last cutoff date .  Below we look at the team previews of favourites Australia  and a promising Afghanistan 



Australia 


Australia had to counter a few injuries to crucial players before they took their time to announce their world cup squad . One of their key spinners Ashton Agar who was in the World cup squad was injuried and couldn't recover in time while Travis Head picked up a han fracture in the South African tour . Aussies found Marnus Labuschagne who was not in the World cup original squad , in great form and his continuous run making in South Africa and India series finally tilted the scales in his favour with injuries around . Travis Head is included in the final squad as he is expected to be fit in the second half of the world cup . Overall Australia chose a strong team of quite a few all rounders . Initially they must have had thoughts of having Warner , Head and Marsh as their top 3 but with Head injured they will have to open with Marsh and currently play Smith at 3 followed by Labuschagne ,  Maxwell , one of Green or Stoinis and Carey . With Adam Zampa being the only specialist spinner, Maxwell has to bowl a fair bit in this World cup . Then there are the three big quicks  Starc , Hazlewood and skipper Cummins with Abbott as backup seamer followed by all rounders Green or Stoinis with Marsh also can bowl. 

Strength : Powerpacked batting lineup with great depth right till number 9 and a lethal bowling attack . If Australia show their full form , they will be a strong favourites team .  Also their fielding is top notch 


Weakness:  Lack of spin options with Zampa being the lone specialist spinner . Australia just hoping that Maxwell is able to bowl consistently in this event . The bowling is struggling to get wickets in powerplay . Also their backup pacers are not at their best form 


Opportunities :  The ominous form of their top order and the experience that both their batters and bowlers have in Indian  conditions can set up this event for them .

Threats :  The recent inability of their bowling group to get early wickets in powerplay and their limited spin options can act as a threat to their chances in the world cup .

Key players :  Warner, Marsh , Maxwell , Smith , Starc , Hazlewood, Zampa 


Chances :  One of the top favourites.   Can go all the way till finals 


Australia final  World Cup squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa






Afghanistan 


Afghanistan is expected to be a surprise package in this world cup . They have be troubling top Asian teams in the Asian circuit . With the world  cup in India , the Afghanistan bowling attack will surely like the conditions as they have a spin attack that can thrive in India . Even their pace attack has improved over the years as they have bowlers who can bowl good cutters and slower ones .  In Rashid Khan , Mujeeb , Noor Ahmed and Mohammed Nabi they have  a high quality spin attack  and two of them , Rashid and Nabi very capable all rounders who can provided great batting  firepower in the middle and lower order batting . In Farooqui , Naveen they have pacers who can perform .

The batting of Afghanistan has firepower at the top with Gurbaz to open . The Zadrans , Najibullah and Ibrahim can bat in different gears and then there is captain Shahidi .

Strengths : The bowling attack, particularly the spinners and good batting firepower at top and middle lower order . 


Weaknesses :  Lack of experience compared to other top teams and lesser  ability to close out games vs top sides 

Opportunities:  The bowlers, specially the spinners  are likely thrive in Indian conditions . Even the batters will find the batting conditions to their liking 



Threats:  Lack of big match mentality can act as a threat to their chances 


Key players : Rashid Khan, Mohammed Nabi , Mujeeb , R Gurbaz , Ibrahim Zadran, Najibullah Zadran , Noor Ahmed 




Afghanistan World Cup squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), 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.

Reserve Players: Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf and Farid Ahmad Malik

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