AFG vs SA: Sanjay Manjrekar pinpoints one weakness of Afghanistan before semi-final

Afghanistan cricket team are set to play against South Africa in the first semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024 on Thursday.

Though Afghanistan have won five of their seven matches in the T20 World Cup, their batting has not been up to par throughout the T20 World Cup and Sanjay Manjrekar believes it is going to cost the team against South Africa in the semi-final.

“That (batting) is their not just a weakness, it is a massive weakness and there is a chance it could be a one-sided game only because of that. We saw in the last game, although Rehmanullah Gurbaz has been the star, he almost lost the game for his side against Bangladesh. So, not much of batting depth,” Manjrekar remarked while talking with ESPN Cricinfo.

Gurbaz has been phenomenal with the bat for Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup. His 80 off 56 aided the side in posting a total of 160 against New Zealand and aided them in defeating the Kiwis for the first time in international cricket.

Alongwith Gurbaz, opener Ibrahim Zadran has also contributed in the event with the pair scoring 442 runs at an average of 73.7.

“(Azmatullah) Omarzai is contributing a little. Gulbadin Naib hasn’t come to the party. Mohammad Nabi continues to sort of be in the team, but (does) not contribute much. Rashid Khan is the dangerous batter they have got in the side,” the expert added.

Nabi’s highest score is 16 off 23 balls in the T20 World Cup which he scored against Papua New Guinea (PNG) in the group stage of the event.

“So that is a big, big weakness they carry into the semi-finals,” Manjrekar concluded.

All of the games Afghanistan has won in the T20 World Cup 2024 have been won by their bowling attack.

Fazalhaq Farooqui and Naveen ul Haq have been Afghanistan’s star bowlers in the event with 16 and 13 wickets respectively in seven games.

Comments

Submit