Afghanistan had a decent campaign in the 2021 T20 World Cup even though they only managed 2 wins in their group stage. Afghanistan gave their best performance in the tournament and were tough contenders in all those games as the conditions in the UAE suited their style of play since the team spends most of its time in the UAE.
However, things will be very different when they start their campaign in the 2022 T20 World Cup as not only they are grouped with the betting favorites but they will also be playing in completely different conditions on Australian grounds.
It will be interesting to see how the team will adapt to the big grounds and pace-friendly pitches in Australia. This is because the Afghanistan cricket team only has medium pacers and lacks quality fast bowlers.
When it comes to bowling, their biggest strength is spin which may not be as potent on Aussie pitches.
Rashid Khan was in phenomenal form in the recent 2022 IPL and will look to carry that form into the World Cup. Some of the other players to watch out for are Mohammad Nabi, Hazratullah Zazai, and Fazalhaq Farooqi.
While Afghanistan have very low chances of clearing the group stage, it will be interesting to see how the team performs in unfriendly conditions and if they are able to topple any of the top teams present in their group and cause an upset.
Afghanistan’s Odds To Win T20 World Cup 2022
According to Bet365, Afghanistan have betting odds of 1001.00 to win the 2022 ICC T20 World Cup. They have crashed out of the World Cup.
There are multiple reasons for such high online cricket betting odds and one of the most important reasons is there are a lot of strong contenders for the trophy while Afghanistan are relatively inexperienced in World Cup tournaments.
Also, Afghanistan doesn’t have much experience in playing in Australia.
T20 World Cup Betting Sites
Afghanistan Players To Watch Out For
Rashid Khan
The mystery spinner is the ace for the Afghanistan team and he can single-handedly win matches for them. Rashid has maintained his incredible form over the years and he is the leading wicket-taker for the Afghanistan team.
He also played an important role in Gujarat Titans’ tournament-winning campaign in the IPL 2022 and has been very economical against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh for his national team.
Rashid is the player to look out for in Afghanistan’s campaign in the 2022 T20 World Cup. You can bet on Rashid to be Afghanistan’s top bowler in T20 World Cup betting.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Mujeeb is another ace spinner that has played a vital role for the Afghanistan team, complementing the performance of his teammate Rashid to win matches for Afghanistan.
Mujeeb picked up 7 wickets in the 2021 T20 World Cup at an economy of 5.41 and he was just 1 wicket behind the leading wicket-taker, Rashid. Also, Mujeeb only played 3 matches in the tournament while Rashid played 5.
It goes to show how important he is to the Afghanistan team and he will definitely be an incredible asset to the team in the upcoming 2022 T20 World Cup.
Hazratullah Zazai
Zazai is an opener for Afghanistan and a very consistent player who will be crucial for Afghanistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup campaign.
If the opening pair for the team manages to put up a decent score, Afghanistan have a lot of hard hitters that can come at a later stage in the innings to power up the score.
The biggest drawback for Afghanistan is that their batting abilities are far behind their bowling prowess and if Zazai manages to consistently score for the team, they will surely be in a better position with both bat and ball.
Afghanistan T20 World Cup Squad
Mohammad Nabi (C), Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Najibullah Zadran, Noor Ahmad, Darwish Rasooli, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Afsar Zazai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karim Janat, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Nijat Masood, Naveen-Ul-Haq
Afghanistan’s Schedule For 2022 T20 World Cup
Afghanistan – Group 1
Matches
- 22 Oct – vs. England
- 26 Oct – vs. New Zealand
- 28 Oct – vs. TBA
- 1 Nov – vs. TBA
- 4 Nov – vs. Australia
Afghanistan Prediction For T20 World Cup 2022
Afghanistan should aim to clear the group stages and reach the semi-finals but it will be very tough for the team as they will have to compete against New Zealand, Australia, and England who are all strong betting favorites to win the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Unfortunately, the odds are stacked against the Afghanistan team as there are too many hurdles that they will have to overcome. It will be quite surprising if they even manage to win against any of the top teams.
The Australian conditions will also play a huge role in the team’s campaign as they are used to spin-friendly conditions and they lack the firepower to clear the big grounds of Australia.
Afghanistan have odds of 1001.00 according to Bet365 to win the 2022 T20 World Cup with a very low implied win probability.
Considering all the factors, you are better off betting on the top teams as Afghanistan are unlikely to even clear the group stage of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Afghanistan’s Performance At The Last T20 World Cup 2021
Afghanistan put in strong performances in most of the matches they played in the 2021 T20 World Cup but they only managed 2 wins out of the 5 matches they played in the group stages.
While they tried their best to win, they were simply outplayed by the likes of Pakistan, New Zealand, and India and were eventually eliminated in the group stages.
Afghanistan’s History In Previous T20 World Cups
- 2007 – Not played
- 2009 – Not played
- 2010 – Eliminated in Round 1
- 2012 – Eliminated in Round 1
- 2014 – Eliminated in Round 1
- 2016 – Eliminated in Round 2
- 2021 – Eliminated in Round 2
