Asia Cup 2018: 4 Star Performers for Afghanistan

Afghanistan were playing for the first time in the Asia Cup and it was a proud moment for the team. Prior to the tournament, their skipper Asghar Afghan had reckoned that the team wasn't in the Asia Cup to just make up numbers. As it turned out, he was right about it. The Afghan players showcased a brilliant display of sporting spirit and challenged their opponents in a way very few had expected.

They had to face Sri Lanka in their first match and they were clearly not favourites against the five-time champions. But to everyone's surprise, they thrashed Sri Lanka by 91 runs and knocked them out of the tournament. In the next match, their performance even got better and they defeated Bangladesh by a huge margin of 136 runs.

In the Super Four stage, the lack of experience in tense moments probably got the better of them twice - against Pakistan and Bangladesh - and cost them a place in the final but their 'never give up' attitude was appreciated by the whole cricketing fraternity. They ended their campaign on a high by holding India, the defending champion, to a tie. It was their biggest result in ODIs, by their own admission.

The Afghanistan team, most certainly, took their performance to a whole new level and so did some of their players. Here, in this article, we will discuss the 4 most successful players for Afghanistan who made an impact in this Asia Cup.

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#1 Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan was the talk of the town before the start of the tournament. Being the backbone of the team's bowling unit, Afghanistan's performance was heavily dependent on him. Well, he once again showed why everyone talks so highly of him. He contributed to his team in every possible manner whether it was bowling, batting or fielding. Against Sri Lanka, he took 2 wickets and aided a run-out.

In the second match against Bangladesh, he again took 2 wickets but his batting heroics made the headlines this time. He smashed a brilliant 57-off-32 balls and helped Afghanistan reach a decent total.

In the last match against India, he once again came to the rescue when his team needed to defend 7 runs off final over. He got the wicket of Jadeja on the fifth delivery of the over and the match ended in a tie.

Overall Performance:

Matches - 5, Runs - 87, Wickets - 10, Bow. Average - 17.20

#2 Hashmatullah Shahidi

Hashmatullah Shahidi

There were no doubts regarding the ability of Afghanistan's bowling unit which comprised of world-class spinners like Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. It was the batsmen however who needed to step up and meet the bowlers at their level of skill.

Hashmatullah Shahidi responded to this need aptly and played some brilliant knocks in the tournament. The best one, of course, was the knock of 97* coming against Pakistan. He came to bat in the 11th over when the score was 31 for 2. He, then, held one end and made vital partnerships with Rahmat Shah first and then with Ashghar Afghan. His innings helped the team to post a fighting total of 257/6 in 50 overs.

He amassed a total of 263 runs in five matches with an impressive average of 65.75. He scored 3 half-centuries.

#3 Mohammad Shahzad

Mohammad Shahzad

Mohammad Shahzad is regarded as one of the best batsmen of Afghanistan, especially in limited overs format. His swashbuckling hundred against India was a testimony of the above statement. He single-handedly took on the Indian bowlers and played one of the finest innings of his career. His knock helped his team to score a fighting total of 252/8.

He contributed significantly in other matches too. He scored a half-century against Bangladesh and provided a good start when the team was chasing a target of 250.

He scored 268 runs in five innings with an average of 53.60 which included a century and a half-century. He was the highest run-scorer for his team in the tournament.

#4 Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Mujeeb Ur Rahman

Mujeeb Ur Rahman was the second most successful bowler for Afghanistan in this Asia Cup. He took 7 wickets in five matches and only Rashid Khan had more wickets than him for the team. He was asked to open the bowling attack from one end and was quite effective in the role.

He was very economical despite bowling during the powerplays. He bowled 47.1 overs and conceded just 165 runs with an economy rate of 3.5. He restricted the opponent batsmen to not allow them to play their shots freely at the start of the innings and it was one of the reasons Afghanistan defended two 200-sub totals.