Former Indian cricketer and one of the most entertaining commentators, Aakash Chopra believes that if Afghanistan hadn’t lost their first match of the 2023 World Cup to Bangladesh, they could have been strong contenders to reach the semi-finals.
Hashmatullah Shahidi and his team secured a convincing seven-wicket victory in their league-phase match against Sri Lanka in Pune on Monday, October 30. This win propelled them to the fifth position in the points table and maintained their chances of reaching the tournament.
While speaking on the performance of Afghanistan in the ongoing 2023 ODI World Cup, Aakash Chopra said, “Afghanistan have won their third game. They first defeated England, then made Pakistan lick dust and now they have said tata bye-bye to Sri Lanka.”
The former opener added, “They are not winning matches, they are dominating and winning convincingly. If they had not lost their first match to Bangladesh, they would have been serious contenders for the semi-final race.”
Chopra highlighted that Afghanistan is not only dependent on their spin bowlers to secure victories in their matches.
“Afghanistan – a team on the rise. We had discussed pre-tournament as well that you shouldn’t take Afghanistan lightly, that they are a good team who have good spinners and if they start scoring runs in batting, it would be difficult to beat this team. Interestingly enough, they are not winning based on spin.”
