Afghanistan set to face Pakistan in maiden ODI

The war-torn country played against South Africa and India during the World Twenty20 in West Indies in 2010, but in one-dayers they faced only associate and affiliate teams Kenya, Ireland, Netherlands, UAE and Canada.

And the prospect of playing against Pakistan, Afghanistan team players are excited and have promised to put up their best showing.

Great opportunity for Afghanistan: Team manager

“It’s a great opportunity for Afghanistan players and they can’t wait for Friday,” Afghanistan team manager Shafiqullah Stanikzai said. “It’s a tough challenge for the team but we will show our qualities and fight to the last.”

“The Afghanistan team is an entertainment package and we will try to give the best possible fight to Pakistan, who are the form team after beating England 3-0 in Tests and doing well in one-day cricket recently,” said Stanikzai.

Afghanistan have played 18 one-dayers since earning status in 2009, from those they won 11 and lost seven matches. They are currently not present in International Cricket Council (ICC) ODI rankings but are sitting on the ninth position in the integral Twenty20 rankings, launched last year.

In 2010, Afghanistan won World Twenty20 qualifiers, in reward to which they were permitted to play against high-profile teams in the WorldTwenty20 in West Indies. In the same year they also won the ICC Intercontinental Cup.

Cricket was made popular in Afghanistan by migrants who spent years living in Pakistan when Soviet troops invaded their country in 1979.

Pakistan will not take Afghanistan lightly: Mohsin

The cricketing relations of Pakistan and Afghanistan have grown-over earlier last year when in May Afghanistan became the first international team to tour Pakistan since the attack on Sri Lanka’s team bus in March 2009. During the tour they played three 50-over fixtures against Pakistan ‘A’ but lost 0-3.

A team from Afghanistan was also part of Pakistan’s domestic Twenty20 tournament, staged in September last year year.

Pakistan coach Mohsin Khan said his side will not consider Afghanistan as pushovers.

“Afghanistan’s team is coming up very fast and we will take them very seriously,” said Mohsin. “This one-day against Afghanistan will give us an opportunity to switch to the one-day mode before the series against England.”