Afghanistan vs. Ireland: First ODI Preview

Afghanistan vs. Ireland: First ODI Preview

After taking another T20 series, Afghanistan now take on dismantled, Irish side in the first ODI which is set to take place on Thursday. While Afghan side will be riding high on confidence as they enter the ODI series, although again the Afghan should heavily rely on the likes of Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, meanwhile attacking batsman Mohammad Shahzad is back into the action. Afghanistan would like to test their best combinations against depleted Irish side before the World Cup.

On the other hand William Porterfield returns to his side and will lead his team in this ODI series, which means Kevin O'Brien will play as a middle-order batsman. Ireland will be desperate to make a comeback in ODI series to gain some momentum. Stuart Poynter, along with Simi Singh and James McCollum will produce some stability in the middle-order for batting, while Boyd Rankin and Tim Murtagh have responsibility of giving break-through.

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Wicket-keeper: Mohammad Shahzad (9 credits)

The Afghan international who likes to play adventurous stroke-play is back for the ODI series. Shahzad finished the series as the top run-getter when last time these two met sides met in Ireland. Shahzad has played 9 matches against Ireland, where he scored 407 runs at an average of 45.22. This in itself is enough for him to feature in our top picks.

Batsman: Hashmatullah Shahidi (9 credits)

Shahidi is young left-handed batsman and less known player. He has produced some great match winning knocks for

After taking another T20 series, Afghanistan now take on dismantled, Irish side in the first ODI which is set to take place on Thursday. While Afghan side will be riding high on confidence as they enter the ODI series, although again the Afghan should heavily rely on the likes of Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, meanwhile attacking batsman Mohammad Shahzad is back into the action. Afghanistan would like to test their best combinations against depleted Irish side before the World Cup.

On the other hand William Porterfield returns to his side and will lead his team in this ODI series, which means Kevin O'Brien will play as a middle-order batsman. Ireland will be desperate to make a comeback in ODI series to gain some momentum. Stuart Poynter, along with Simi Singh and James McCollum will produce some stability in the middle-order for batting, while Boyd Rankin and Tim Murtagh have responsibility of giving break-through.

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Wicket-keeper: Mohammad Shahzad (9 credits)

The Afghan international who likes to play adventurous stroke-play is back for the ODI series. Shahzad finished the series as the top run-getter when last time these two met sides met in Ireland. Shahzad has played 9 matches against Ireland, where he scored 407 runs at an average of 45.22. This in itself is enough for him to feature in our top picks.

Batsman: Hashmatullah Shahidi (9 credits)

Shahidi is young left-handed batsman and less known player. He has produced some great match winning knocks for Afghanistan. He features in our top picks from the batsmen list because he has a great batting record against Ireland, so far he has scored 353 in 8 matches at an average of 58.33. Some good knock can be expected.

All-rounder: Mohammad Nabi (10 credits)

All-rounder Mohammad Nabi has been excellent form for his side, though he is a T20 specialist but his current form can make Afghanistan seal another series. In recently concluded T20 series Nabi scored 147 runs at an average of 73.50, while ended up picking 3 wickets. Still he is one of the key players of Afghanistan.

Bowler: Rashid Khan (9.5 credits)

Khan who picked four wickets in four balls in his previous match at this venue. He cannot be ignored for this match. Khan has picked 11 wickets in his 3 T20I series against Ireland, but here in ODI he gets more number of overs to bowl means more wickets in his bag. At this venue Khan took 19 wickets in 6 matches overall. He is the perfect bowler to have in your team.

Captain: Mohammad Nabi

Vice-captain: Rashid Khan

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ajay Patil
Ajay Patil writes about fantasy cricket and soccer for RotoWire. He has been active in DFS cricket, NBA and soccer since 2015.
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