Afghanistan Abdalyan have been absolutely embarrassed by a nine wicket loss against a disciplined Oman side in the first T20 held at the cricket academy ground of Muscat. Owing to some poor choice of players and bad shot selections, they could not put up a par score on board. Later on the bowlers matched the quality of batters by putting on an even poorer show.
Experiment with Hazratullah must end now
Apart from the toss, nothing went in favor of the Abdalyans. I don’t get the point of offering Hazratullah any further opportunities. The way he has been grassing these chances one after the other calls for him to be dropped from the remaining matches. Besides, he looks technically very vulnerable. His confidence is low and so is his fitness.
Not the best time to expose Wafiullah against International sides
Wafiullah is a future talent who is going to represent Afghanistan in the upcoming Colts Asia & World Cups. I also fail to understand why ACB selectors are hell bent on damaging his 50 over game by exposing him to the shortest format. It was definitely uncalled. A poor run in the series might dent his confidence going ahead in the U19 tournaments.
Afsar, Sami and Shahzad should not be a part of developmental tours
Bringing Samiullah, Shahzad and Afsar together in the T20 squad is one of the bizarre options they could’ve tried. First and foremost they’re not prospective candidates for the national side. Besides, their performances are not something to be proud of. The sole purpose of these A tours is to give exposure to such emerging talents who can represent the country in future. They’ve been tried on numerous times before but couldn’t deliver satisfactory results.
Hype over Wafadar and Saleem is only gas
The most talked about duo of Saleem and Wafadar have been absolutely disappointing to say the least. Wafadar was there in the one day series but haven’t yet figured out the right lengths on this wicket. Pace is not always the key. Combined control of lengths and variations are equally important. And both of them lacked any such kind of skills and disciplines. If they had the leverage of using Naveed Zadran, one such hole could’ve been plugged. But sadly they only have Nijat and Ibrahimzai at their disposal. They might think of using Nijat in place of Saleem in the next game and see how it goes.
Qais gave an absolute shocker
Qais is definitely not a power play bowler. I was not happy with Shahid’s mediocre captaincy when he used two overs each from the fast bowlers at a stretch in spite of getting hit. It would have been better to use Karim in the fourth and sixth over and use Saleem in the fifth. That way Ahmad could’ve been used outside the power play. Having said that there is no way one can justify the way Qais had bowled his overs. Full tosses followed by short pitched ones with ill directed lines was the hallmark of his bowling. Nangyalai is the only bowler who has the ability to bowl in the power play. Therefore he must get into the team as an extra power play bowling option. He is also a very handy bat and his fielding skills are electrifying.
Changes are inevitable and the only way forward
Too many changes are required to get the balance right. But there aren’t ample reserves available. So with limited resources at place, I would be willing to see Sediq Atal in place of Hazratullah. Nangyalai should be getting in place of Afsar. Nijat might get the nod ahead of Saleem and Ijaz should have a crack instead of Samiullah. That should be the ideal eleven I’m looking for in the next encounter.