Cricket Fever Pakistan vs Afghanistan

 Pakistan's cricket team will play its third Super 12 match at the ICC T20 World Cup against Afghanistan at Dubai International Stadium today (Friday), as both teams, so far undefeated, are looking to make it to the semi-finals of the world's largest tournament.

With two early wins, Pakistan's chances of reaching the semi-finals are bright. However, given the conditions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan's performance so far, Afghanistan is also considered a dangerous side.

Pakistan beat India well in the first leg, beating the team by 10 wickets. They also easily defeated the Kiwi in their second game.

Afghanistan proved to be a dangerous team in the tournament as in their warm-up match they easily defeated the champions West Indies. They also beat Scotland by a total of 130 runs in a Group Two match.

In throwing the ball, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman will give the opposition strikers a hard time, while Hazratullah Zazai, Mohammad Shehzad and Asghar Afghan are in good form with batting.

The Green Shirts have also paved the way for them to reach the semi-finals with their victories over India and New Zealand. Their players are in good form. The confidence of the players is high, but the Afghan team can no longer be called weak opponents. Whenever the two teams face each other, an exciting match is a sure result.

Both teams played a fantastic match at the 2019 World Cup. Pakistan won by three wickets.

Rashid Khan urged Afghan and Pakistani fans to behave when the two neighbors met at the T20 World Cup today as he recalled a game in England two years ago that left a scar on the pitch.

Afghan star striker Rashid played in that 50-match World Cup qualifier in Headingly packed in Leeds in 2019.

His team was badly beaten but the result was marred by violence and friction inside and outside the stadium.

The players needed to be escorted to safety outside the stadium as the fans came out in large numbers.

"It's always been a good game against Pakistan, but this should always be a game," Rashid said on Thursday.

"I urge all fans to calm down and enjoy the game. What happened in the 2019 game should not have happened."

Rashid got four wickets and fellow spinner teammate Mujeebur Rahman took five wickets as Afghanistan kicked off the T20 World Cup in style, outscoring Scotland by just 60 runs in a big 190-4 turn.

Afghanistan score 11 sixs and 13 fours while defeating Scotland in Sharjah. But Rashid said hitting aggressive shots is not the only goal of the team.

"To be honest we don't have such an idea, like you have to focus on hitting as many six," he said. "But you have to prepare yourself with a wicket," he said.

"I think we need to play good cricket. It's not that we got too many sixs. These stadiums are too hard to beat six. Wickets aren't good for hitting six."

Pakistan will play Afghanistan in the sense of a champion: Mushtaq

Acknowledging Afghanistan's spinning power, interim Pakistan coach Saqlain Mushtaq has announced that his team has "the idea of ​​becoming a champion".

"We know that Afghanistan is a very good team but our plans are good and we need to make those plans as we did in the first two games," Mushtaq said at a press conference in Dubai.

The interim coach went on to say that the T20 is a game one should expect to go up and down.

He said it is not easy to score big in stadiums, because one has to be technically strong when playing in stadiums like this.

"Rashid and Mujeeb are top athletes and are doing well in their team and in independent teams around the world, but we have plans ahead," Mushtaq said.

Commenting on the changes in the batting style, he said: "The whole team is playing well. We are happy with this combination."

"We are not considering relegating Fakhar Zaman from one floor. He has played well in [pre-season] games."

Mushtaq has revealed that Pakistan has played more of its cricket in recent years in the UAE.

"These UAE conditions are very familiar to my players and we have been playing home games and Pakistan Super League games here and that will help and will benefit our players."

Pakistan will play Namibia on November 2 and Scotland five days later in the Super 12 division.

Afghanistan won the toss and put Pakistan first in the T20 World Cup match between the two teams on Friday.

Captain Babar Azam and the rest of the Pakistani team have played good cricket so far in the ICC T20 World Cup. However, Men in Green will clap their hands today (Friday) as they try to tackle Afghan spinners.

Pakistan go into the match confident after defeating India and New Zealand in their first two matches.