Meet the Afghanistan Team for the ICC World Cup 2015

Afghanistan cricket board has announced the 15 member squad for the upcoming cricket world cup. With around one and half month left the the tournament this is the right move for the board to declare the team and let them focus on the preparations. Let us discuss the team players and their recent form, achievements in detail here. The team list is as follows:

1. Mohammad Nabi Eisakhail 
2. Nawroz Mangal
3. Afasr Khan Zazai 
4. Mohamma Javed Ahmadi  
5. Mirwais Ashraf 
6. Gulbadin Naib 
7. Mohammad Ashghar Stanizai
8. Samiullah Shinwari 
9. Najibullah Zadran 
10. Usman Ghani
11. Nasir Jamal 
12. Hamid Hassan 
13. Shapoor Zadran 
14. Dawlat Zadran 
15. Aftab Alam

Mohammad Nabi and Nawroz Mangal the team captain and vice captains respectively. Both these players are bowl right arm off-break and are strong pillars of the batting line.  Nawroz Mangal has captained the Afghanistan team in the past and his experience will be crucial and helpful both for the team and to the new captain Nabi as well.  Afasr Khan Zazai is the only wicket keeper in the squad and in case of any injuries any batsmen is most likely to keep the wickets for Afghanistan team. The fifteen member squad included a couple of all rounders and batsmen but I guess the selectors should have picket a few more fast bowlers in the 15 members squad. There are only 4 fast bowlers in the team. One or two additional fast bowlers might have given the coach and the captain some more choices to pick the bowlers.

Now when the team is already announced we wish all the best to the Afghanistan cricket team. The team is already in Australia for preparations.

World Cup Match Schedule for Afghanistan cricket team: Here is the details of the matches the Afghanistan cricket team will play in the word cup in the group stage:

• 18-Feb-2015: Afghanistan v Bangladesh at 14:30 Australian Standard time at Manuka Oval, Canberra
• 22-Feb-2015: Afghanistan v Sri Lanka at 11 am Australian Standard time at University Oval, Dunedin
• 26-Feb-2015: Afghanistan v Scotland at 11am Australian Standard Time at University Oval, Dunedin
• 4-Mar-2015: Afghanistan v Australia at 14:30 Australian Standard Time at Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth
• 8-Mar-2015: Afghanistan v New Zealand at 14:30 Australian Standard Time at McLean Park, Napier
• 13-Mar-2014: Afghanistan v England at  14:30 Australian Standard Time at Sydney Cricket Ground

The complete world cup match schedule can be seen here - http://icccricket.blogspot.com/2014/07/2015-cricket-world-cup-match-schedule.html

If the Afghan cricket team plays well and win a couple of matches in the group stage, they have the chances to qualify for the knock out rounds. But this first time world cup appearance is a great opportunity to the team to learn and grow further in the world of cricket. We once again wish the very best to the Afghanistan cricket team and hope this would be the first of many ICC world cup appearances for them.

100 days to go for ICC world cup 2015

Yes the countdown has begun. Its just a matter of 100 more days and the tournament will be open. The world cup trophy is already traveling across the globe and soon it will reach the host nations Australia ans New Zealand. You can check the match schedule here and plan which match you want to watch. For those who want to support their team in person, there is an option to watch the match and city travel packages. You can check various packages at ICC official website.

India are the defending world cup champions but given the team form, fitness and experience level of player in foreign pitches I feel that it'd be a hell of a task for the defending champions. Indian team don't have the coach and senior players to defend the title. Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Nehra are not in the squad. Thus a lot es expected from the youngsters. Will they be able to cope with the pressure? We will get to know from the single opening match itself when India will play against Pakistan. This might be the first time that Pakistan will defeat India in a world cup match or they might have to keep waiting.

Now let discuss the finalist of the previous world cup. Yes the Sri Lankan cricket team, it seem that the Sri Lanka cricket team might be the one with most experienced player both in balling and batting. The team has the reputation of making it to the finals in both sub-continent and abroad conditions. This is the team to have played most number of world cup finals and remember they are the winner of ICC T20 world cup as well. This time Sri Lanka might target making it doubles of T20 and ODI world cup.

The team who have won most number of world cup is the co-host of the tournament. Yes I'm talking about Australian cricket team, but this team recently have a decline in form with many cricketers  retiring from ODIs. No matter the Aussie team is not in good touch these days still the team will have the advantage of home conditions and its always a hard task to beat Australia in home conditions.

Other teams to watch this world cup are Pakistan, South Africa and co-hosts New Zealand. The 100 days countdown will sound more interesting when you watch the video below:


This is the official TV commercial for the ICC cricket world cup 2015.