Afghanistan’s rise from an associate nation to a major force in T20 cricket has been remarkable. Their best T20 World Cup showing came in 2024, when they reached the semi-finals, and expectations are high again for the side led by Rashid Khan. Before the tournament they play a final three-match T20I series against the West Indies.
The batting line-up looks powerful, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Sediqullah Atal and Mohammad Nabi. Zadran arrives in excellent form, having scored 169 runs in three matches against Zimbabwe. Gurbaz made 93 runs in four games in the Bangladesh Premier League, and Nabi scored 95 runs and took four wickets. Rashid, with 182 T20I wickets, leads the bowling, and Fazalhaq Farooqi is expected to spearhead the pace attack in the absence of the injured Naveen ul Haq, supported by Azmatullah Omarzai, Abdullah Ahmadzai and Gulbadin Naib.
The West Indies play six matches before the T20 World Cup, three against Afghanistan and three against South Africa. Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein and Sherfane Rutherford are unavailable because of the SA20, so Brandon King, an experienced all-format player with more than 1,700 international runs, leads an experimental 16-man squad. Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer and Johnson Charles provide power, and Quentin Sampson, Amir Jangoo and Alick Athanaze are promising young batters.
In the attack, Shamar Joseph and Jayden Seales lead the pace department. Joseph has taken 51 red-ball wickets and 15 in 12 T20 matches, while Seales has six in six, and Ramon Simmonds has four in two games. Our preview favours the more settled Afghans.
