ICC Men’s CWC 2023: Pakistan take on Afghanistan in a virtual do or die situation
The 22nd match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 will be played between Afghanistan and Pakistan on October 23 at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. While Afghanistan are at the bottom of the points table, Pakistan are stationed at number five with four points.
Head-to-Head
Afghanistan and Pakistan have played seven ODIs against each other since 2012, and Pakistan have won all. In India, these two teams have never played against each other. At the World Cups, Pakistan lead 1-0 against Afghanistan.
| Particulars | Afghanistan | Pakistan |
| ICC ODI Rankings | 9 | 2 |
| Wins in ODIs | 0 | 7 |
| At World Cups | 0 | 1 |
Performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 so far…
Afghanistan and Pakistan will play their fifth match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. While Afghanistan have registered one win and three losses, Pakistan have had equal success and failure in the tournament so far.
| Match number | Afghanistan | Pakistan |
| 1 | Lost to Bangladesh by 6 wickets | Beat Netherlands by 81 runs |
| 2 | Lost to India by 8 wickets | Beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets |
| 3 | Beat England by 69 runs | Lost to India by 7 wickets |
| 4 | Lost to New Zealand by 149 runs | Lost to Australia by 62 runs |
Squads
Afghanistan: 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.
Pakistan: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim.
Injury updates
Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman will not be available for selection for the Afghanistan match as he is still recovering from knee injury. Besides, there are no injury concerns for Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Playing conditions
MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai will host the encounter between Afghanistan and Pakistan. It will be a day night match. The venue will host its fourth match of this tournament. Of the last three matches, the teams batting first have won one and the teams batting second have won two. Expect spinners to play an important role. Batting may not be that easy given the relative slowness of the surfaces on offer here.
Weather
The weather is expected to be hazy. The maximum temperature attained during the day will be 34 degrees Celsius. There will be 76% cloud cover and 1% chance of rain. The wind will blow from the north-northeast.
Players to watch out for
Afghanistan’s opening batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz has been the most prolific batter for his team with 159 runs in four matches, including the best of 80. He averages 40 and has a strike rate of 95. In the bowling department, Rashid Khan has been excellent. The leg spinner has claimed six wickets in four matches.
Pakistan’s wicket-keeper and middle order batter Mohammad Rizwan has had a good World Cup so far scoring 294 runs in four matches at an average of 98 and strike rate of 96. On the bowling front, one of the positives for Pakistan is that their premiere bowler Shaheen Afridi is back in form. The left-arm medium pace bowler picked up a fifer in his last outing against Australia.
Milestones alert
Hashmatullah Shahidi needs 105 runs to complete 2000 ODI runs
Ibrahim Zadran needs 3 runs to complete 1000 ODI runs
Mujeeb Ur Rehman needs 3 wickets to complete 100 ODI wickets
Hasan Ali needs 2 wickets to complete 100 ODI wickets
Shaheen Afridi needs 5 wickets to complete 100 ODI wickets
Babar Azam needs 8 runs to complete 5500 ODI runs
Mohammad Rizwan needs 13 runs to complete 2000 ODI runs
Match details
Date: October 23, 2023
Time: 2:00 PM IST
Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Live streaming: Star Sports, Hotstar
All the statistics are sourced from ESPN Cricinfo