Dubai, Oct 19 (UNI) There are all the possibilities of Afghanistan springing a major surprise in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup as they have played the majority of their cricket in the UAE, it was reported on Tuesday.

The 2021 edition of the T20 world cup in UAE and Oman will be another parameter where Afghanistan will gauge their current standing in the global game while charting their progress in international cricket.

Theirs's has been a story of constantly striving for improvement with a steely unit, which is a mix of core players and new emerging stars.

In the 2016 World Cup held in India, they won all their matches in the First Round to qualify for the next stage. They defeated eventual champions West Indies, though they finished at the bottom of Group 1.

Afghanistan has a formidable record in T20 cricket, having played 84 matches and winning 58 of them, with a 69.64 win percentage.

Afghanistan has some of the most dangerous T20 players in their artillery, like Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi, who form a fearsome spin trio, with two of them being able to make handy contributions with the bat as well.

Hazaratullah Zazai, Najibullah Zadran and Mohammad Shahzad provide fire to Afghanistan's batting. The presence of Asghar Afghan will be a calming influence in the dressing room.

Zadran impressed with pace and bounce during the 2010 T20 World Cup in West Indies. In this year's tournament, he is expected to add an edge and penetration in the pace attack. In 36 T20s, he has bagged 37 wickets at an average of 24.51.

Above all, Rashid will be the key weapon in Afghanistan's armoury with both the ball and bat. He has picked up 95 wickets in only 51 T20 matches at an average of 12.63. He is looking at the World Cup as an opportunity to further cement his legacy as one of the greatest-ever players in the shortest format of the game.

The stage is perfectly set up for Afghanistan to make a big dash in the UAE. The first major test for them will be against their neighbours Pakistan on October 30 in Dubai.

The two teams had faced off in 2013, where Pakistan defeated Afghanistan. But, the latter would be aiming for avenge that defeat in this tournament.

The Squad

Rashid Khan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Hazratullah Zazai, Usman Ghani, Asghar Afghan, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Shahzad, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Karim Janat, Gulbadin Naib, Naveen ul Haq, Hamid Hassan, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Dawlat Zadran, Shapoor Zadran, Qais Ahmed

Reserves: Afsar Zazai, Farid Ahmed Malik.

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