Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan at a apply session forward of the T20 World Cup match in opposition to New Zealand.
| Photograph Credit score: R. Ragu
One of many highlights of the 2024 T20 World Cup was Afghanistan’s sensational march to the semifinals. The inspiration for the staff’s inspiring run — through which it additionally beat the mighty Australia — started with a crushing 84-run win over New Zealand.
The recollections of that sport in Windfall needs to be contemporary within the minds of each these outfits after they get able to sq. off in opposition to one another to kickstart their 2026 marketing campaign (Group D) right here on the MAC Stadium on Sunday.
Afghanistan will financial institution on its formidable spin assault, led by skipper Rashid Khan, to stifle the Black Caps, particularly if the Chepauk floor performs true to its status for being form to tweakers.
Aside from Rashid, the skilled Mohammad Nabi and Noor Ahmad — the latter can anticipate good native help by means of his Chennai Tremendous Kings affiliation — type a potent mixture.
The batting unit, although, depends closely on openers Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and the middle-order batters want to drag their weight if the squad hopes to go deep within the event.
New Zealand, in the meantime, has to shortly study classes from the 1-4 drubbing by the hands of India not too long ago to keep away from one other first-round exit. The primary concern within the bilateral collection was its batting, which was overreliant on Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips. Nevertheless, the Kiwis have typically proven the flexibility to lift their ranges on the massive stage.
This is among the best teams, with three of the 5 sides ranked within the prime 10 (New Zealand, South Africa, and Afghanistan). Can Rashid’s males spring one other shock?
Revealed – February 08, 2026 02:00 am IST
