Afghanistan vs Pakistan, T20Is 2023: Presenting the statistical preview
What's the story
Afghanistan and Pakistan will battle it out in a three-match T20I series, starting March 24 (Friday).
All three matches will be held at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE.
After a cracking Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 season, several Pakistan players will be keen to impress.
Also, key specialists like Babar Azam have been rested for the series.
We present the statistical preview.
PAK
Shadab to lead Pakistan
Shadab Khan will lead a 15-member Pakistan squad. Besides Babar, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, and Haris Rauf have been rested.
PAK squad: Shadab Khan (c), Abdullah Shafique, Azam Khan, Faheem Ashraf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Zaman Khan.
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Here's a look at Afghanistan's 17-member squad
Afghanistan squad: Rashid Khan (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Usman Ghani, Sediqullah Atal, Najibullah Zadran, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Noor Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Fareed Ahmad, Fazal Haq Farooqi and Naveen Ul Haq.
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Here's the H2H record
Pakistan and Afghanistan have met each other thrice in the 20-over format. Pakistan enjoy a 3-0 record. All of their three meetings have taken place in the UAE. Pakistan have sealed all three matches while batting second.
Rashid
Rashid Khan has claimed 126 wickets
Rashid Khan has claimed 126 wickets for Afghanistan and is the 3rd-highest wicket-taker in T20Is.
He leads the wickets chart in Afghanistan versus Pakistan T20I games (4).
Meanwhile, in 27 T20I matches in the UAE, Rashid has claimed 42 scalps for the Afghans at 14.26. He holds an economy rate of 5.85.
He has 12 wickets each versus UAE and Zimbabwe.
Performers
Key approaching milestone for the Afghanistan batters
Najibullah Zadran has scored 1,644 runs at 31.61. He can surpass the tally of AB de Villiers (1,672).
Mohammad Nabi is Afghanistan's second-highest scorer (1,686). Nabi can go past Umar Akmal (1,690), Colin Munro (1,724), and Shikhar Dhawan (1,759).
Rahmanullah Gurbaz has amassed 941 runs at 24.76. He can become the sixth Afghan batter to score 1,000 runs.
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Shadab can get to 100 scalps
Shadab has claimed 98 wickets for Pakistan in the 20-over format at 21.47. He is set to become the 7th bowler to claim 100-plus scalps. Notably, he is in line to become the first Pakistani bowler to achieve this milestone.
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Fakhar can race to 1,500 runs
Fakhar Zaman has piled up 1,369 runs at 21.73. He can become the sixth Pakistani batter to score 1,500-plus runs. Meanwhile, he is also in line to surpass former Pakistan batter Ahmed Shehzad (1,471) in terms of runs.