ICC World Cup 2023: Pakistan Must To Win Afghanistan To Reach Semi-final – Dinesh Karthik

ICC Cricket World Cup 2023: After the team’s loss vs Australia, India cricketer Dinesh Karthik said that the Pakistan national Cricket team must to win their next match against Afghanistan if they really want to reach semi-finals of the tournament.

Lost the match against Australia

In the last match, the green shirt team – Pakistan had been defeated by their opponent – Australia in a run-fest held on M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. In this match, they were out for 305, thanks to Adam Zampa’s 4 for 53. Imam-ul-Haq (70) and Abdullah Shafique (64) put up a solid opening stand of 134 runs but they failed to take advantage of the opportunity. In the end, the green shirt team therefore suffered their second consecutive defeat in the tournament.

This match marked Australia’s 70th victory over the Pakistani’s team in their 108th ODI encounter. It also lifted Australia to fourth position on the 2023 ODI World Cup points table, while the green shirt team dropped to fifth position.

After the match, Abdullah Shafique, a Pakistani cricketer has said:

“Pakistan couldn’t finish well in the middle of the match against Australia”

Still in the interview, an Indian Cricketer Dinesh Karthik have said on Cricbuzz about the next match against Afghanistan:

“Pakistan are facing a lively Afghanistan team. They upset England and lost their next match, so it’s safe to say they won’t fly. On the contrary, the green shirt team received 2 consecutive defeats against 2 strong teams. They will be gutted. If they has ambitions of reaching the semi-finals where they can play then they have to beat Afghanistan, otherwise it is not possible.”

The next match against Afghanistan

Besides Pakistan’s loss, Afghanistan is no different. In the last match against New Zealand, the Afghan team made a poor decision in the fielding, giving up too many catches and it looked like they never believed they could chase 289. Afghanistan captain Hasmatullah Shahidi felt disappointed but quickly regained his spirit and actually prepared for the next match:

“…We still have more matches to come, the next one is Pakistan. We’ll try to improve and come back stronger in that match.” – Said by Hasmatullah Shahidi after the match against New Zealand.

The 22nd Match between The green shirt team vs Afghanistan will be played on Monday, October 23, 2023 at 4:30 pm and will be held at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

The green shirt team must win their next group stage match against Afghanistan if they want to qualify for the 2023 ICC World Cup semi-finals, Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik, Speaking after Pakistan’s loss to Australia in Bengaluru, Karthik said that the Afghanistan could pose a big challenge at Chennai for the man in green team, who have lost two consecutive matches in the 2023 World Cup.

Afghanistan and Pakistan Squad in ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Nabi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Naveen ul Haq, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Riaz Hassan, Najibullah Zadran, Ikram Alikhil, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Abdul Rahman.

Pakistan squad: Babar Azam (c), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Hasan Ali, Mohammad Wasim.

In summarize, in the next 22nd match of the me-in-green team, will be a semi-final fight. The winning team will enter the semi-finals and have a chance to win the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. With the strength that ther green shirt team ranks 5th and Afghanistan ranks near the bottom with the top 9 on the rankings, there is no need to guess which team will reach the semi-finals, but anything can happen, who knows the future?

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