Can you do player ratings after only two matches? Oh well, I’m going to do just that.
Noor Ali 7/10 A compact batsmen, with some beautiful strokes, Noor Ali scored Afghanistan’s only fifty in the tournament. After that knock against India, IPL teams have made enquiries.
Karm Sadiq 1/10 Only 2 runs in 2 innings shows his wild slogging doesn’t work against bowlers with a bit of pace. No wickets meant we didn’t get to see his wild and enthusiastic celebration.
Mohammad Shahzad 2/10 8 runs for the promising wicket-keeper. An extra mark for Shahzad as he was unlucky to be given out caught behind when the ball hit his helmet against India.
Nowr0z Mangal 3/10 The captain has struggled with the bat of late, and he continued his poor form into this tournament. A wicket and three good catches props up his rating.
Asghar Stanikzai 5/10 Asghar shone in the eye-catching partnership with Noor Ali in the first match. In his 30, he hit three towering sixes over mid-wicket.
Raees Ahmadzai 2/10 Sadly, Raees wasn’t able to make an impact in his last tournament for Afghanistan. He has now retired to try and find the next generation of Afghan players.
Mohammad Nabi 2/10 With two ducks and expensive bowling, he was the biggest disappointment for Afghanistan. He came into the tournament with a brilliant reputation as a big-hitter and wily a off-spinner. Nabi will bounce back, though.
Samiullah Shenwari 7/10 An impressive display from the young leg spinner. Coming on to bowl, with South Africa dominating, he manged to stifle the power of the Proteas batting line-up.
Hamid Hassan 9/10 Simply fantastic bowling from Hamid in the two matches. Clocked regularly around the 90 mph mark, he troubled batsmen with his yorkers and changes of pace. A few of his team-mates may play in the IPL, but Hamid deserves a place the most.
Shapoor Zardan 6/10 Showed lively pace and bounce, although he was too inconsistent at times. Bowled well enough, however, to be close to signing for the new Pune IPL franchise.
Mirwais Ashraf 5/10 Left out in the first match, Mirwais came in for the South Africa match as much for his batting than his primary job which is to bowl. Only two overs but he chipped in with a morale boosting 23, which included two sixes.
Dawlat Ahmadzai 5/10 1 wicket for 21 runs in two overs against India. Let himself down with bowling a costly no-ball; nevertheless, the strongly built Dawlat took Afghanistan’s first wicket in the big league
Did not play: Shabir Noori, Shafiqullah and Nasratullah
Great article again STM. Hamid Hassan has also impressed me the most. Shenwari was also very good. Shapoor Zardan looked very impressive in a few deliveries but he seemed to be a bit inconsistent. Similarly, Noor Ali played well in the first match but in the second match he did not play the best of shots as he got out on a duck. I concur with your ratings for sure and I think they will learn a lot from this experience and will fight better in their next encounter with world class teams.