Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has expressed his displeasure at being dropped for the crucial T20 World Cup Super Eights match against Afghanistan in the Caribbean, saying he was not one bit amused by the team management’s decision.
| Photo Credit: Gareth Copley

Australian pacer Mitchell Starc has expressed his displeasure at being dropped for the crucial T20 World Cup Super Eights match against Afghanistan in the Caribbean, saying he was not one bit amused by the team management’s decision.

The 2021 T20 World Cup champions suffered a shocking 21-run loss to Afghanistan, which dealt a massive blow to Australia’s chances of entering the semifinals.

Australia had replaced Starc with Ashton Agar for the match but the left-arm spinner, despite tying down the Afghanistan batters, could not take any wickets.

“No — two World Cups in a row,” Starc was quoted as saying by Sydney Morning Herald on Willow Talk podcast when quizzed about his omission and whether he was amused by the decision.

“Just the match-up, they (team management) saw previous games on that ground in St Vincent with spin playing a part and obviously Ash (Ashton) and the left-armer enticing them to make a change,” he added.

This was the second occasion in a row where the Australian pacer was dropped for a T20 World Cup match against Afghanistan, with the previous one being in Adelaide in 2022 where also the hosts failed to reach the last four stage.

Agar and the two Australian pace spearheads, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, were unable to break the partnership between openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran, who ended up making 118 runs.

“I think Ash bowled pretty well in the powerplay. They probably played the spin quite well and batting first probably assessed the conditions a little bit better than we did, and had a couple of stumbles that in the end cost us the game,” said Starc.

“It was probably the fielding that cost us again that game. That meant we had to win against India and we fell short there as well.” Australia then went on to lose to India in Super Eights and were later eliminated from the competition.

Starc also expressed his displeasure with the scheduling of the tournament and pre seeding that saw them advance to the pre determined group despite topping the group stage.

“We finished ahead of England (in the group stage) and end up where we were pre-seeded as the second side. All of a sudden, you’re in a different group.” “The argument was it was because it was so hard to get around the West Indies, so fans knew where your team was playing.

“So then why don’t you have the chock-a-block tournament at the front… and then spread it out at the back end? We had the two night games and the third was a day game, so it wasn’t the best preparation. We had a delayed flight out of St Vincent, it was a 90-minute drive from the airport to the hotel in St Lucia, and then we had a 10 o’clock toss.

He added that the travelling between venues in the West Indies is always difficult.

“I think that was probably maybe a misread [by organisers], the fact that the front half of the tournament was more spread out, and then you hit the super eights and … travel around the West Indies is probably not the easiest thing to do, certainly not to travel home from.”

Rahul Dravid with captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli pose for a picture after Team India wins the ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2024 defeating South Africa in the finals.
| Photo Credit: ANI

As Rahul Dravid bids farewell to Team India, the legend said that during his tenure as head coach, he abhorred chopping and changing the side too much and always tried to be a foil for skipper Rohit Sharma so that he could devise his own winning strategies.

Dravid’s coaching stint came to an end with India winning the T20 World Cup in Barbados last week, defeating South Africa and bringing home the trophy for the second time after 2007.

“I’m someone who actually likes continuity and don’t like to chop and change too many things because I believe that creates a lot of instability and doesn’t create very good environment,” said Dravid in a video posted by BCCI on July 6.

“I feel that I am a part of the team whose responsibility is to create the right professional, safe, secure environment that doesn’t really have a fear of failure as such but is challenging enough to push people. That has always been my endeavour.” Dravid said that the period when the players were coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic was a tough one for him as he had just taken over as coach and “never envisaged” that he would have to work with half a dozen captains.

“One of the things that we really had to manage, especially in the early part of my coaching tenure here with India. We were at the back-end of the COVID restrictions. “We really had to manage their workloads through all the three different formats. There were a few injuries and it led to me working with something like 5-6 captains in the first 8-10 months of me being here.

“It was definitely something that I hadn’t envisaged, or not something that I thought about, but it just sort of organically happened.” Under Dravid’s tutelage, India thrashed England in the five-match Test series at home and the team also reached the 2023 ODI World Cup final.

While COVID put a lot of restrictions on players and they virtually lived out of a ‘bubble case’ at all times, the pandemic also had its up side as a lot of youngsters got a chance to be a part of the India team environment.

“The other thing that happened, which was very nice to see is, because we played so much of cricket after Covid and we had to cram in a lot of series, it meant that we had to almost, at times, have two teams playing at the same time in different parts of the world.

“Over the last 2-1/2 years, especially in white-ball cricket and lately towards the back-end (of my career) even in red-ball cricket, we were able to give a lot of youngsters a lot of opportunities, bring a lot of people into the side.” “Some of them developed and stayed on in the side a little bit longer, but some of them, they were there because at that point of time maybe some of the seniors were resting.” Dravid’s relationship with Indian stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli dates back to the time when he was at the fag end of his cricketing career while the two were finding their feet in international cricket.

“I’ve really enjoyed working with Rohit, someone I knew as a young boy. Just to see him grow as a person and grow as a leader in Indian cricket, what someone like him has been able to contribute to the team over the last 10-12 years, both as a player and now as a leader, has been a real tribute to him and the effort that he’s put in.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting to him know as a person as well and enjoyed seeing his commitment and his care for the team; to just try and get the environment right where everyone feels safe and secure and enjoys themselves. It’s something that I’ll miss.

“Even with someone like Virat. In the initial days, just a couple of series with him as a captain, just a couple of matches. Getting to know him as well and to see how he goes about his business, the professionalism that he continues to display…his desired to improve, to get better. It’s been fascinating for me to watch.” Dravid said he always believed in the process because of which, at times, he was misunderstood as not being result-oriented.

“For me that’s (results), of course it’s important. I keep saying and people think, ‘Oh, I think result are not important’. Of course, results are important.

“I’m in the business to produce results. But it’s always like, as a coach, to think about what is it that I can control to help the results and at the end of the day our responsibility should be to try and help the captain deliver his vision and his philosophy of how he wants the team to play.” “Of course, to win cricket games is a given. You try to win as much as you can. You start with that. But I always look back on what is it that leads to the winning? How do you win more games and what is the process required to win more games? “For me, the vision was to try and get that process right. Ticking all of those boxes. ‘Are we challenging the players enough? Are we practicing well enough? are we prepared tactically, technically? Are we supporting the players as best as we possibly can, Are we creating the right environment? “These are the things I think that are important to tick before you get to the winning. The winning, hopefully, if you do a lot of these things, most of the time the winning will take care of itself.”

Captain Rohit Sharma poses for a picture with the trophy after Team India won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup against South Africa, at Kensington Oval in Barbados.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Rohit Sharma held the T20 World Cup trophy like a new-born baby as he walked towards the beach here for the triumphant captain’s post-tournament photo shoot, a serene smile refusing to leave his face and the feeling of being a world champion yet to fully sink in.

He couldn’t be faulted for being a bit dazed. After all, a jinx that lasted over a decade had been broken.

“It’s surreal. It feels like a dream. It feels like it hasn’t happened. Although it has happened but it feels like it hasn’t happened,” Rohit laughed trying to process his thoughts after 24 hours while talking to BCCI.TV.

The coastal city of Bridgetown is battling a hurricane. The same could also be said about the Indian captain, only that his is a battle to control a gamut of emotions threatening to overwhelm him like a huge sea wave every now and then.

“Last night we had a good time, we had a blast with the teammates till the early morning,” he couldn’t stop grinning before becoming a touch emotional. I would say I didn’t sleep properly but that’s absolutely fine by me. There is a lot of time for me to go back and sleep.

“I want to live this moment, each minute, each second that is passing by and will try to make the most of it,” he said describing how it felt to lead an Indian team to its first ICC title in 11 years.

“It’s been a great moment right from the time the game got over to till now. That’s the emotions and feelings you have,” said the skipper.

His marauding run at the top, especially in the knockouts, fetched Rohit a place in the team of the tournament but all he can think about for now is a sense of joyous relief.

“We have dreamt about this for such a long period of time, we worked hard as a unit for such a long period of time and to see this (the trophy) with us, it feels quite relieved as well.

“When you have worked hard for something and eventually at the end you get it, feels really, really nice,” the skipper reiterated.

People were amazed and amused to see Rohit walk to the 22-yard strip at Kensington Oval and put a tiny speck of soil in his mouth, just like Novak Djokovic does after winning the Wimbledon.

The 37-year-old said it was a spur of the moment act.

“Nothing was scripted. It was all coming instinctively. I was feeling the moment,” Rohit said about his ode to the turf that gave him the best moment of his life.

“When I went to the pitch, that pitch gave us this trophy. I will remember that ground forever in my life and that pitch as well. I wanted to have a piece of it with me.

“Those moments are very special, the place where all our dreams came true and I wanted something of it,” he concluded.

India captain Rohit Sharma poses for a picture with the ICC Mens T20 World Cup 2024 trophy at a beach, in Barbados on July 1, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

The first T20 World Cup featuring 20 Teams will go down in history for several reasons. The tournament ended with Team India ending their ICC trophy drought, securing a seven-run win over first-time finalists South Africa in an edge-of-the-seat thriller at Barbados.

Here is a closer look at some amazing feats and records broken in the West Indies and the USA.

With two unbeaten sides meeting in the final, it was clear that the champion would set a new record for most wins in a tournament. In fact, India and South Africa both finished with eight match wins — with India missing out on a possible victory due to one of their matches (against Canada in the group stage) being a washout.

India’s 176/7 in the final, however, was the highest by any team in the final of a Men’s T20 World Cup — edging past Australia’s 173/2 against New Zealand in 2021.

At the age of 37 years and 60 days, Rohit Sharma became the oldest man to captain a side to T20 World Cup glory, as per ICC. It was a tournament that was great for the bowlers, and both Fazalhaq Farooqi of semifinalists Afghanistan and Arshdeep Singh of champions India took 17 wickets, the most in a single edition, one more than previous record-holder Wanindu Hasaranga of Sri Lanka.

The sensational Jasprit Bumrah of India finished with the best bowling average in an edition, with 8.3 – ahead of Anrich Nortje’s figures of 8.5 in 2022. Bumrah, who also went at an economy of 4.17, was a unanimous decision for the ‘Player of the Tournament’ award.

And it was England’s Chris Jordan who has the record for the best bowling strike rate in a tournament, with 8.3 — ahead of Fazalhaq Farooqi (8.9) and Tabraiz Shamsi (9.2) this year, as well as previous record-holder Jacques Kallis (9.4) from 2012.Jordan claimed four wickets in an unseen quadruple-wicket maiden over against the USA. Curtis Campher, who claimed four wickets in four balls against The Netherlands in 2021, conceded two in his over.

New Zealand fast bowler Lockie Ferguson also created history as the first man to bowl four maiden overs in a T20 World Cup spell. He finished with figures of 3/0 (4) against Papua New Guinea in the Kiwis’ last group-stage match at the tournament.

There was plenty of big hitting as well — and 2024 recorded the most boundaries in an edition of the T20 World Cup thus far, with 1,478, eclipsing 2021’s 1,349. Unsurprisingly, within that, 2024 also had the most sixes — 515, more than 100 more than 2021’s 405.And West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran hit the most sixes in a T20 World Cup — his 17 beating the record of 16 set by his legendary compatriot Chris Gayle.

Former Indian captain Kapil Dev
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

India’s first World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev on June 27 said collective performance, not individual brilliance will be the key factor in deciding whether Rohit Sharma’s team can end its over-a-decade-long trophy drought by winning the T20 World Cup in the West Indies.

India will take on England in the tournament’s semifinal later on June 27, hoping to make the finals where South Africa are in waiting after annihilating Afghanistan.

“Why talk about only Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, or Kuldeep Yadav? Everybody has a role to play. Their job is to win the tournament,” Kapil told PTI Videos in an exclusive interview.

“To win a match, an odd person can come out, but to win a tournament everybody has to work together. If we are going to depend on Bumrah or Arshdeep, then you are going to lose it,” he asserted.

“Let’s talk about the team. That gives you a better perspective rather than the odd player. Yes main player is there and we can go around him. But everybody has to chip in to win the World Cup,” he added.

Kapil pointed out that in his 1983 World Cup-winning team, he wasn’t the only one who performed.

“Roger Binny, Mohinder Amarnath, Kirti Azad, Yashpal Sharma all came out with match-winning performances. If you start depending on one player it means you are not going to win tournaments more often,” he observed.

He wished India good luck ahead of their semifinal match against England and hoped that the Men in Blue clinch the trophy.

“All the Best, good luck, I hope the Indian players, the way they are playing keep on playing like that, they should not have a bad day and be out of the tournament (like) what happened last time in the 50 overs World Cup,” said the iconic all-rounder.

“They are playing well, they are enjoying. Hats off to them. Good luck to them. I wish them all the luck and happiness,” he added.

The 65-year-old, who was elected president of Professional Golf Tour of India on Wednesday, said that he feels proud to see India perceived as title contenders every time they compete in a global event.

“We should be happy that we are able to think that we can win. 20 years back, you weren’t thinking. It’s important that in every tournament India is going as a favourite. That’s a big thing.

“We never thought about that. That’s enough encouragement for a youngster to take up the sport. I am very happy to see where Indian cricket has reached wonderfully well,” he emphasised.

Kapil lauded Bumrah, who has been the star performer for India with 11 wickets in the tournament so far.

“Bumrah is 1000 times better than me. These young boys are far better than us. We had more experience. They are better. They are very good. Outstanding. They are fitter. They are much more hardworking. They are fantastic,” he said.

He, however, played down the role of a captain.

“Everybody can do captaincy. Hardik, Virat, Rohit everyone can do captaincy. When you give ball to somebody, the bowler has to do the job. Yes captain is there to help you out but it’s not like if you don’t win he is not a good captain.”

Afghanistan’s captain Rashid Khan with teammates acknowledges fans after Afghanistan won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup cricket match against Bangladesh, at Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, on June 24, 2024.

West Indian batting great Brian Lara had predicted Afghanistan would reach the T20 World Cup semifinals nearly a month before the tournament began and now that the giant-slayers have made it, skipper Rashid Khan said he is immensely proud to have proved the legend right.

Afghanistan continued their brilliant run at the T20 World Cup as they marched to their first-ever World Cup semifinal with an eight-run win over Bangladesh in the last Super 8 clash here.

“The only guy who put us in the semifinals was Brian Lara and we proved him right. When we met him at a welcome party, I told him we won’t let you down,” Rashid said at the post-match presentation.

“I think when you get the kind of great, great statements from a legend, as a team, I think it gives you lots of energy as well. We are capable,” he added.

Lara, in an interaction with PTI editors at its headquarters last month, had predicted that Afghanistan would be among the semifinalists in the mega-event.

“Afghanistan, they are capable of getting into the (last) four,” Lara had said, while picking his tournament favourites.

Rashid said the conviction that they could advance to the semifinals was ignited by their triumph over heavyweights New Zealand in the group stage.

“It’s a dream for us to be in the semifinals. The way we started the tournament, the belief came when we beat New Zealand. It’s unbelievable,” he recalled.

Afghanistan also picked up a historic win over Australia before beating Bangladesh in the final Super 8 fixture to set up semifinal date with South Africa on June 27.

Against Bangladesh, Afghanistan were restricted to 115/5 but the bowlers led by Naveen Ul Haq and Rashid propelled them to a thrilling eight-run win.

“We thought 130-135 was a good score but we fell 15 runs short. We knew they would come hard at us and we knew that is what we could take advantage of. We didn’t need to do anything extra, just be clear in our plans.

Pacers Naveen and Fazalhaq Farooqi have excelled with the new ball all through the campaign and Rashid couldn’t be happier.

“In T20s if you get a good start, it helps us in the middle overs. They have given great starts to us in the whole competition. It makes it easier for us to go harder at the batsmen.

“They have delivered, they were very clear in their minds,” Rashid said.

On the several rain interruptions that eventually led the match to be truncated, Rashid said they were mentally ready to pick all 10 wickets.

“Rain is something not in our hands but mentally we knew we have to play 20 overs and take 10 wickets.

“That’s the only way we could win. But Gulbadin, he had some cramps. But his wicket was invaluable to us,” he said.

The skipper reckoned there will be huge celebration back home.

“It’s a big achievement for us as well. We have done that at U-19 level but at this World Cup, I don’t have any words to describe the feeling back home. We have to go into the semis with a very clear mind and make sure we enjoy the occasion,” he said.

Shanto blames batters

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto conceded the team was once again let down by its batters.

“We bowled really well. As a bowling unit we did a lot of good things. But as a batting unit we made some poor decisions especially in the middle overs,” he admitted.

“Whole tournament, we bowled really well, especially Rishad the new guy came and bowled really well, I am really happy for him. As a batting unit we really need to improve a lot.”

Former T20 World Cup champions Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and regular contender New Zealand failed to advance to the Super 8, rather shockingly, in the ongoing edition of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.

Pakistan, along with India, was expected to progress from Group-A, but a shock Super Over loss to USA to USA and a failed run chase against its neighbour ruined its chances.

The Lankans and Kiwis were in tougher groups. While the former was in Group-D with Bangladesh and South Africa, Kane Williamson’s men were drawn with two-time champion West Indies and Afghanistan.

Both teams would have hoped to advance, but sub-par performances meant that they were on the flight back home before the Super 8 stage.

All three sides will rue the missed chances. The precarious nature of the pitches in the United States will definitely be a point of discussion for the teams that played their group stage games in New York.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka were rattled by the inconsistent surface at the Nassau County Stadium and would believe that different circumstances might have yielded different results. Not only the wickets, the weather gods also intervened in a few matches.

Some tactical blunders, like dropping Tim Southee — the all-time top wicket-taker in T20Is — in the crucial encounter against Afghanistan and a poor performance in the death overs against Rovman Powell’s men, sealed the Kiwis’ fate as they suffered reverses in their first two fixtures.

It was almost a similar script for Wanindu Hasaranga’s men who, after two losses and a No Result against Nepal, finished third in their group with three points.

Even as the heavyweights faltered, the lesser-fancied teams punched above their weight. No one would have backed USA to qualify at the start of the tournament, but a spirited show saw the co-host defy expectations and beat the 2009 champion Pakistan while making it to the Super 8.

Rishabh Pant’s simplistic approach to batting makes him the X-factor in the super 8s and is the most successful among his teammates. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Even at nets, there is a marked difference between how Rishabh Pant goes about his business when compared to other batters in the Indian team.

The slow, low pitches in New York – both at the match and practice venues – makes timing difficult. Virat Kohli does all the right things with technique, backlift, and feet movement, but in following traditional methods, is unable to adapt to this new challenge.

Pant, often batting next to Kohli in the adjacent net, is doing the opposite. There are only reactions to each delivery; there are no predetermined classical triggers. Pant uses the wrist to send a length ball to fine-leg. A short ball outside off is crunched flat-batted through cover. All by standing still with minimal feet movement. When it is time to get adventurous, there is full commitment. A full walk outside off, crouched low, body twisted to paddle a leg-stump inswinger over the wicketkeeper. Watch the ball, react, repeat.

It is this simplistic approach that has made Pant the top run-scorer among Indian batters in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup group stage which concluded in the USA. If Pant had gotten the chance to go up against Canada here on Saturday, his preparedness for the Super 8 stage would have been complete.

Paying rewards

The team management’s decision to move him up to three and maximise his attacking abilities has paid rich rewards. The southpaw was at his best in the game against Pakistan, making a match-winning 31-ball 42. After a shaky start, Pant came into his own in the 10th over bowled by pacer Haris Rauf. The crowd went berserk went Pant tumbled over as he lapped Rauf to the fine-leg fence. The next ball needed only a slight turn of the wrists get another four to fine-leg.

Pant’s comeback to international cricket from a serious road accident is a remarkable feat. His batting abilities have remained at a high level, and his wicketkeeping has improved. The smooth sideways movement and athletic takes with the gloves is reward for the strenuous rehabilitation he had to undertake.

Former India coach Ravi Shastri summed up Pant’s inspirational return in a moving dressing room speech. “I had tears in my eyes when I read about his accident, and when I saw him in hospital, it was even worse. Batting – everybody knew what you were capable of. But your wicketkeeping – the range of movement that you have got so quickly after the operation is a tribute to your hard work. It’s an inspiration to millions that from adversity, from jaws of death, you can snatch a win,” Shastri said in the bcci.tv video.

India now needs Pant to carry this form into the Super 8 stage in the West Indies. The 26-year-old is the ‘X’ factor who carries the team’s hopes in this tournament.

Sri Lanka’s captain Wanindu Hasaranga.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Sri Lanka captain Wanindu Hasaranga believes they’ve extensively discussed their repeated mistakes in big tournaments and now it’s time to shift their focus towards rectifying those faults, following the ignominy of another group league exit.

Hasaranga termed his team’s 83-run win against the Netherlands as something that came “too late” after losing their games against South Africa and Bangladesh in the group stage of the T20 World Cup.

“After every tournament, we gather around and discuss that we committed several mistakes. As a team, we should decide if we have to rectify those mistakes. I think we have not rectified our mistakes yet.

“As a captain, I feel very sorry about this,” Hasaranga didn’t beat around the bush after another inglorious first round exit having finished ninth in the ODI World Cup last year.

“We have discussed our mistakes in this World Cup and from previous ODI World Cup as well. So as we have not rectified those we had to get out of this tournament this soon.” The leg-spinner felt that it was the batting that led the team down.

“When we think of the bowing battalion, we are on the top in this tournament as well. Unfortunately, I know our batting wasn’t good enough as we expected and that’s why we had to get out of this tournament this early,” the skipper put the blame squarely on batters.

Hasaranga, however, didn’t want to read too much into social media comments where there has been an outpouring of emotions by the Sri Lankans cricket fans.

“As a player, we should not look at social media posts. What’s on social media is (posted) done by a small group of people to make (instigate) other fans angry. (Genuine) Sri Lanka fans are with us even if we lose the matches. We must be very lucky to have such kind of fans in Sri Lanka.” While Sri Lanka arrived in the United States at least 10 days prior to the start of the tournament, Hasaranga felt that there was no similarity between training pitches and match decks.

“We should thank the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) board for bringing us 10 days prior and organising a training camp like that. But I think from the locations that we have practised, the conditions (for matches) are not the same.

“So, we adjusted ourselves as every possible way. Unfortunately, we had our first match in New York and it was not successful. And then we went to Dallas to the next match and we could not adjusted to the pitch there as well. I think as a team and as a captain, we take the full responsibility.” But Hasaranga doesn’t want to hide behind the below-par USA tracks and paper over the dismal performance of his own team.

“Yes you can (put the) blame on pitches and make up stories when you lose a match. But as professional cricketers, we can’t do that. All the other countries are also playing in the same pitches so we have to adjust ourselves to that. We have to admit that. That’s why we come to these tournaments representing a country.

“We should have improved our cricket and not blame others,” he concluded.

West Indies captain Rovman Powell plays a shot during a ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2024 match.
| Photo Credit: AP

Hosts West Indies and much-improved Afghanistan will indulge in a battle of one upmanship and strive to gain momentum for the Super Eight stage when they take on each other in their final group stage game of the T20 World Cup at Gros Islet.

After starting off with a scrappy win over Papua New Guinea, West Indies are slowly but steadily finding their rhythm. They brushed aside Uganda and New Zealand.

Afghanistan, on the other hand, have had a flawless campaign so far. Rashid Khan and Co. are enjoying the conditions that the Carribean pitches are offering.

Gaining momentum is the only thing at stake in the final Group C clash with both teams having qualified for the Super Eights.

“Momentum is a very important word for us it’s important for us to keep playing good cricket and consistent cricket,” West Indies skipper Rovman Powell said on the eve of the game.

“After this game the Super 8 is very, very important so you want players going into the Super 8 with good performances, you want to go in the Super 8 as a team winning.” That opener Rahamanullah Gurbaz (167 runs) and pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi (12 wickets) are currently leading the chart of run-makers and wicket-takers respectively is a just reflection of their fine run in this ICC showpiece.

Besides Gurbaz, the experienced Ibrahim Zadran has also made significant contributions collecting 114 runs with a highest score of 70. But the Afghans who have a lot of right hand batters will have their task cut out against left-arm spinners Akeal Hosein and Gudakesh Motie.

The Afghans themselves will be without off spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to a finger injury. However, they have no dearth of spinners with the likes of skipper Rashid and young Noor Ahmad, who bowled economically against Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, in their ranks.

“It’s been three good games but realising there’s a lot more than three games to go obviously tomorrow and then three more in the group stage and hopefully beyond,” Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said.

“That’s the focus but we’re not worried about looking too far ahead the focus obviously the main goal is to go as far as we can and achieve things that no other Afghanistan team has done before.

“And we’ve taken a step in the right direction so far, but that’s all it is. There’s a lot more cricket ahead and a lot of good teams to play against,” he added.

The Darren Sammy National Stadium has one of the best pitches across both USA and the Caribbean.

With the ball coming on to the bat nicely, both matches played here so far have been high-scoring affairs with Sri Lanka piling up a 200-plus score on Sunday.

The flamboyant West Indies batters in search of some big scores would welcome the conditions. The home batters have not yet found their groove, something which the skipper acknowledged.

“All of us as batters, have had a very subtle start to the World Cup, but tomorrow presents an opportunity here at the Daren Sammy Stadium for us as batters to get it right – it’s also a better opportunity on a better wicket,” Powell said.

Teams (from)

West Indies Squad: Rovman Powell (c), Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Obed McCoy, Shamar Joseph, Shimron Hetmyer and Shai Hope.

Afghanistan: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Nangyal Kharoti,Hazratullah Zazai , Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.

Match starts 6am IST.