Sixteen years ago, Afghanistan was in Division 5 of the ICC World Cricket League, competing against teams like Japan, Singapore, and Botswana. Today, on Wednesday evening at the Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad, Rashid Khan’s team will play in the semifinal of the ICC T20 World Cup, having surpassed teams like Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, and the West Indies. Meanwhile, their opponent, South Africa, carries a heavy weight of expectation in World Cups. This Saturday, June 29, either Afghanistan or South Africa will become the first men’s World Cup final debutant since New Zealand in 2015.
Here are the player matchups that could decide the fate of this semifinal:
Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been the standout batter of this T20 World Cup. With 281 runs, the right-handed batter currently leads the run-scoring chart, propelling his team to an improbable semifinal spot. South Africa should ideally look to restrict Gurbaz using Marco Jansen, considering the Afghan opener only strikes at 127.4 against left-arm pacers, compared to a strike rate of 161.8 against right-arm quicks. Jansen has had a subdued tournament so far, picking up only three wickets. However, his bowling effort has been economical, giving away just a few runs. Interestingly, Jansen and Gurbaz have only faced off once in T20s, back in IPL 2023, where the South African pacer dismissed the Afghan batter first ball.
Afghanistan’s captain, Rashid Khan, has been an inspiring leader, leading from the front with both bat and ball. In the must-win Super 8 game against Bangladesh, the leg spinner produced an incredible four-fer in a tense run defence, taking his wicket tally for the tournament to 14. On Thursday, Rashid will face Heinrich Klaasen, who has emerged as one of the best spin hitters in world cricket in recent years. Klaasen has maintained a strike rate of 171.66 in the last three years against spin, with his strike rate jumping to 188.2 against Rashid in the five T20s they have faced off. However, the Afghan spinner had the upper hand the last time they met, dismissing Klaasen quickly in an IPL match. Klaasen, who has endured a difficult tournament with 138 runs at a low strike rate of 112.19, will aim to step up on the big stage against the toughest opponent of all.
It’s not often that Rashid is outperformed by a bowler in the Afghan outfit. But that’s exactly what Fazalhaq Farooqi has achieved in this T20 World Cup. The incisive left-arm pacer, who is the leading wicket-taker of this tournament with 16 scalps, has been instrumental in Afghanistan asserting itself early in its bowling efforts. On Thursday, he will face Quinton de Kock, South Africa’s leading run getter of the World Cup. The left-handed opening batter, with 199 runs in seven innings, has been the only consistent figure in the competition for a much-vaunted Protean batting order. Farooqi’s chances will be boosted by the fact that de Kock only strikes at 132.0 against left-arm pacers, while going at a strike rate of 147.0 against right-arm quicks.
