DUBAI: Afghanistan and Ireland will have one eye on the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 when they go head to head in a three-match ODI series starting in Sharjah on Tuesday, Dec.5.

Tenth-ranked Afghanistan and 12th-ranked Ireland will both feature in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, a 10-team event from which two teams will join Australia, Bangladesh, hosts England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 to be staged in the United Kingdom.

The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 will be played in Zimbabwe from march 2 to 25, and apart from these two sides and hosts Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Windies have already secured positions. Hong Kong, Scotland and Kenya are battling out for the two remaining places from the ICC World Cricket League Championship, which will be confirmed by Dec.8.

The 10-team line-up for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 will be completed in Namibia in February 2018 when the finalists of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 will take a step forward in cherishing their dreams of playing in the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over competitions.

For Afghanistan and Ireland, the three-match ODI series will serve as an opportunity to prepare and try various playing combinations before the Zimbabwe challenge. For Ireland, this series will be far more important as according to the existing Future Tours Programme, this is its only ODI series before the qualifiers.

In contrast, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe will give a final touch-up to their preparations when they will take on each other in a five-ODI series from Feb.9-19 in Sharjah.

Apart from aiming to cement their places in the World Cup Qualifier 2018, players from either side will also be targeting to improve their positions in the ICC ODI Player Rankings. In the batting table, which is headed by India’s Virat Kohli, Ireland’s Paul Stirling is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in 35th position. The 27-year-old top-order batsman has played 84 ODIs, including 13 against Afghanistan in which he has scored 477 runs. Stirling will be targeting a personal milestone in this series when he will try to convert his two scores of 90s (95 and 99 in March this year) into three figures to register his first century against the Asian side. Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi is his side’s highest-ranked batsman in 53rd position and will be looking to enter the top-50. Nabi has played 13 ODIs against Ireland in which he has scored 258 runs and taken 15 wickets.

Other Afghanistan batsmen aiming to make upward movements include Samiullah Shenwari (89th), Rehman Shah (91st), Zoor Ali Zadran (96th) and Asghar Stanikzai (99th).

Amongst the bowlers, Afghanistan’s wrist spinner Rashid Khan features prominently in the list in ninth position.

The teenager has a good opportunity to climb the ladder as he is not only six points behind India’s eighth-ranked Axar Patel but is also in his qualification period, meaning if he takes wickets, then he will jump in the rankings.