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Afghanistan has emerged as the T20 talent hotspot in
recent years. When Noor Ahmad appeared on the 2019 IPL auction shortlist, he
was just 14 years old. A 15-year-old mystery spinner appeared on the shortlist
for the IPL auction last year. Afghanistan’s white-ball team is so rich in T20
experience and style that even T20 world travellers like Qais Ahmad and Waqar
Salamkheil have no place in the team.
Though they haven’t yet been in the spotlight of major
league sports, Azmatullah Omarzai and Ibrahim Zadran have experienced life in
the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).
The odd man out on Afghanistan’s team is Rahmat Shah.
He has never played in a T20 competition outside of Afghanistan and is the
team’s least experienced player. For a minimum of 100 innings, his ODI strike
rate of 71.28 is among the lowest in the history of the competition.
Before Rahmat’s 2018 Test debut against India, former
Afghanistan coach Phil Simmons had referred to him as the team’s most
technically sound batter. He validated his assertion in 2019 when he became the
first-ever Test centurion for Afghanistan. He faced 390 balls in the England
ODI World Cup the same year and scored 254 runs.
At that event, he scored the most runs of any hitter
from Afghanistan. More significantly yet, no other batter from Afghanistan
faced more balls. Afghanistan had at last discovered a man capable of grinding
out attacks, absorbing pressure, and batting time. Although a lot has changed
in the world of ODI cricket since then, Rahmat hasn’t made many changes to his
style of play. However, he has expanded his arsenal to include shots like the
reverse-sweep.
It makes sense why Simmons found him so impressive.
The way Rahmat has gone about things has also impressed new coach Jonathan
Trott, who feels that it has calmed the whole batting lineup. Trott, at the
post-match press conference, singled out Rahmat’s lofty straight drive, filled
with technical accuracy and finesse under duress, for special acclaim.
Afghanistan had amassed 31 boundaries total during their historic victory over
Pakistan at Chepauk.
Rahmat has made three consecutive half-centuries in
chases since the match against Pakistan, and each time he has done so, the
pursuit has ended in victory. Based to the records provided by ESPNcricinfo, he
has been in control of 278 out of 329 balls that he has faced thus far in this
World Cup. Although he lacks the strength to smash home runs, his ability to
dominate one end of the batting order makes it possible for the other batters
to pursue those hits. The ascent of Ibrahim and the maturing of Shahidi have
contributed to increased stability in Afghanistan’s lineup. The side that was
vulnerable to irreversible collapses is no longer this one.
Rahmat then did the same against Netherlands and kept
his team alive at the World Cup. Can he do more of the same on Tuesday when
Afghanistan meet heavyweights Australia at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium?