ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: How Afghanistan proved they are 'second best' Asian team in ODIs

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World Cup 2023: The Afghanistan cricket team lost their last match of the World Cup 2023 by five wickets but not without putting up yet another fight. Opting to bat first, they were reduced to 116/6 in 27.4 overs, but they showed nerves of steel once again and played out the entire 50 overs to post 244 runs on the board.

South Africa, who had already booked a spot in the semi-final, got off to a solid start, scoring 64 in the first 10.5 overs without losing any wicket. They looked set for a thumping win before their semi-final clash against Australia at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata but Afghanistan once again stood up to put up a fight.

South Africa were reduced to 66/2 and then 139/4. David Miller was also hunted in the 38th over as the South African scorecard read 182/5. The Proteas chased the target but in the 48th over. On their final day of the World Cup 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Afghanistan once again proved they are the second best Asian side after India in the tournament.

How Afghanistan proved they are second best Asian side in World Cup 2023

Afghanistan finished at the sixth spot (eight points) in the 10-team World Cup 2023. They won four of their nine matches. Pakistan too have eight points but are sitting on fifth spot due to a better Net Run Rate (NRR). They face England in their last match of the World Cup 2023 on Saturday.

However, it will be Afghanistan who would be considered as the second best Asian team in the tournament. Pakistan were one of the top three ODI teams in the ICC rankings when the tournament kicked off on October 5.

But their campaign was nothing less than disastrous. They lost four consecutive matches on the trot. Afghanistan also managed to thrash them by eight wickets by chasing 283 runs in Chennai.

Afghanistan never lost more than two consecutive matches in a row. They stunned defending champions England in Delhi, before winning back-to-back three matches against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Netherlands.

They had Australia reeling at 91/7 and looked set for a fourth consecutive win before Glenn Maxwell played arguable the best knock in ODI cricket history.

Not to forget, Afghanistan also shrugged off the minnows tag by staying in the semi-finals race till the very end. They were competing with Pakistan and New Zealand for a semi-finals berth and that in itself is a massive achievement.

In the 2015 World Cup, Afghanistan were placed in Pool A with New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England and Scotland. They finished sixth in the seven-team group after losing five of their six matches.

In the 2019 World Cup, they finished at the bottom (10th spot). They lost each of their nine matches. At the end of the league stage, India were first, Pakistan fifth, Sri Lanka sixth and Bangladesh eighth among the Asian nations.

Despite limited opportunities and not the best of facilities, Afghanistan have walked the talk by batting, bowling and fielding superbly in the World Cup 2023. It's not just not a good news for them, but for the cricketing ecosystem which needs nations like Afghanistan to come up and make the game more competitive and global. Rising giants, did not just win hearts but big matches, and they are here to stay.