Afghanistan Vs Pakistan: T20 World Cup: Full Preview, Lineups, Pitch Report, And Dream11 Team Prediction
Afghanistan vs Pakistan: 24th match, Super 12 Group 2 of T20 World Cup 2021, Match Preview, Match details, Lineups, Head to Head stats, Dream11 Prediction. Make your Dream11 Fantasy team with our match preview, prediction
Fantasy cricket Dream11 team prediction, Afghanistan vs Pakistan, 24th Match, Super 12 Group 2 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. Make your dream11 team prediction and T20 World Cup 2021 Fantasy League prediction with our fantasy cricket tips and suggestions. Get early updates, game previews, news, suggestion, prediction for your fantasy team in our exclusive section Fantasy Sports.
Fantasy Cricket Dream11 Team Prediction : Dream11 Fantasy Cricket: Afghanistan vs Pakistan : 24th Match, T20 World Cup 2021 Preview
Match Details :-
Match: Afghanistan vs Pakistan – 24th Match – Super 12 Group 2 Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai. Date & Time: 29th October 2021 at 7:30 pm (IST) Where to Watch Live: Star Sports Network & Hotstar.
Pitch Report: Afghanistan vs Bangladesh : 24th Match Preview
Pitch Report: The pitch in Dubai has been sporting for batting in recent times. While one game turned out to be a low-scoring affair, the other one saw the Pakistan batters dominating. Chasing should remain the way forward for both teams.
T20 World Cup Matches 1st Innings Average Score – 150 runs
T20 World Cup Matches 2nd Innings Average Score – 152 runs
Chasing Team Record:Won: 30, Lost: 24, Tied: 1.
T20 World Cup Fantasy League Head to Head Stats: Afghanistan vs Pakistan : 24th Match
Matches Played (T20 World Cup): 1 Won by Pakistan: 1 Won by Afghanistan: 0
Afghanistan won their first Super 12 game against Scotland with a huge 130 runs. Moreover, Mujeeb took a fifer while Rashid took 4 wickets in his spell to bowled out Scotland for just 60 runs.
However, in the World Cup stages, Pakistan is slightly ahead of them. But, it will be a cracking contest between the two great Asian T20 sides.
Pakistan won back-to-back two matches and is a step ahead of the other teams of group 2. They chased down a below-average target against New Zealand to win their second game in a row.
If they manage to win it against Afghanistan, then they will keenly confirm their place in the semi-finals. Moreover, it will be a good contest of the bat and ball between the two teams.
Afghanistan vs Pakistan : 24th Match : Possible Playing XI
Afghanistan :
Mohammad Shahzad (wk) Hazratullah Zazai Rahmatullah Gurbaz Najibullah Zadran Asghar Afghan Mohammad Nabi (C) Karim Janat Rashid Khan Gulbadin Naib Naveen-ul-Haq Mujeeb ur Rehman
Pakistan :
Mohammad Rizwan (wk) Babar Azam (C) Fakhar Zaman Mohammad Hafeez Shoaib Malik Asif Ali Imad Wasim Shadab Khan Hasan Ali Shaheen Afridi Haris Rauf
Asia Cup 2025 will be held in UAE from 9 to 28 September. Due to T20 World Cup 2026, this time Asia Cup will also be organized in T20 format. India is being seen as the biggest contender in the Asia Cup this time.
Over the years, there have been many bowlers who have made a significant impact for their sides in the Asia Cup and are even featured in the list of highest wicket taker in Asia Cup history. Players like Muthiah Muralidaran, Lasith Malinga and many more are certified legends for their sides, and they fully deserve the status after their brilliant bowling performances over the years.
With the Asia Cup 2025 right around the corner, let's have a look at the highest wicket taker in Asia Cup history.
Highest Wicket Taker in Asia Cup History | ODI Format
1. Muthiah Muralidaran
Muthiah Muralidaran is considered to be one of the greatest bowlers in the history of cricket. He has picked up 30 wickets in 24 Asia Cup matches at an economy of 3.75 and an average of 28.83. He was part of Sri Lanka’s Asia Cup titles wins in 1997, 2004 and 2008.
2. Lasith Malinga
Lasith Malinga is second on the list of best bowlers in Asia Cup history. He has been one of Sri Lanka's greatest pacers, especially in white-ball cricket. Malinga played in 5 editions from 2004 to 2018 and took 29 wickets at an economy of 4.65 and an average of 20.55. He finished as the highest wicket-taker in the 2010 and 2014 editions and won the Asia Cup in 2004 and 2014.
3. Ajantha Mendis
Former Sri Lanka mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis is third on the list. Mendis took 26 wickets in just 8 matches from 2008 to 2014 at an economy of 3.98 and an average of 10.42. He was the highest wicket-taker at the 2008 edition and helped Sri Lanka to the Asia Cup titles in 2008 and 2014.
4. Saeed Ajmal
Saeed Ajmal is the only non-Sri Lankan bowler in the top 5 bowlers with the most wickets in Asia Cup history. Ajmal took 25 wickets in 12 matches between 2008 and 2014 at an average of 19.25 and an economy rate of 4.21. He was part of Pakistan’s Asia Cup-winning team in 2012.
5. Ravindra Jadeja
India's star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja completes the top 5 list of the bowlers with most wickets in the Asia Cup. He played in the 2010 to 2023 editions of the Asia Cup so far and took 25 wickets at an average of 26.28 and an economy rate of 4.34.
Highest Wicket Taker in Asia Cup History | T20 Format
1. Bhuvneshwar Kumar
The top wicket-taker in Asia Cup T20 history is India’s pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has scalped 13 wickets in six matches at an impressive average of 9.46. The 35-year-old, who is currently not part of India’s squad, is also known for his skillful death and new ball bowling.
Bhuvi has an excellent economy rate of only 5.34 and is the only bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the shorter edition of the tournament. The right-arm medium pacer’s best figures of 5/4 — also his T20I best, came against Afghanistan in the 2022 edition of the tournament.
2. Amjad Javed
The second-highest wicket-taker of this list is Amjad Javed of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who has featured only in the 2016 edition of the tournament, where he led the team. In the only edition he played in this format, he has taken 12 wickets in seven matches at an average of 14.08.
The 45-year-old has a relatively higher economy rate of 7.34 as compared to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Javed’s best bowling figures in an innings came against Sri Lanka during the inaugural edition of the T20I format of the Asia Cup. The right-arm pacer took three wickets for 25 runs to record his best figures in the tournament.
3. Mohammad Naveed
The third-highest wicket-taker in the event’s history is also the UAE’s Mohammad Naveed, with 11 wickets to his name in seven matches. Like Amjad Javed, he made only one appearance during the 2016 Asia Cup, where his team advanced after playing qualifying rounds.
The 38-year-old has an excellent average of 13.18 with a reasonable economy rate of 5.24. Naveed’s best bowling figures of 3-14 came against Hong Kong in 2016. With his bowling performance, the UAE restricted Hong Kong to 146-7 in their 20 overs. In reply, the UAE successfully chased down the total and won by nine wickets.
4. Rashid Khan
Afghanistan spin wizard Rashid Khan has taken 161 wickets in just 96 T20Is for Afghanistan and is the leading wicket taker in T20 cricket. However, he is unlikely to be fourth on the list by his standards. He has so far taken 11 wickets despite playing eight matches, a number higher than all the top three bowlers.
The leg-spinner has an average of 18.36 and boasts a slightly higher economy rate of 6.51. His best figures of 3-22 came against Bangladesh in 2022, resulting in a thrilling victory over the Tigers.
5. Hardik Pandya
India all-rounder Hardik Pandya is fifth on the list. The right-arm pacer has scalped 11 wickets in eight matches so far, with an average of 18.81 and the highest economy rate of (7.01) among the top five bowlers.
Notably, his best figures of 3-8 against arch-rivals Pakistan during the 2016 edition. Thanks to Hardik Pandya’s bowling, India bundled out Pakistan for a modest total of 83 and successfully chased it down in 15.3 overs.
Rashid Khan is the world's most successful bowler in T20 cricket. At the age of just 26, he has surpassed all the great players. However, Rashid's performance has seen a decline in the recent times.
He had a back surgery after the 2023 World Cup. Rashid has not been the same as before since his return. He took 17 or more wickets in every season of IPL between 2017 and 2023. But in the 2024 and 2025 seasons combined, he got 19 wickets. His economy and average were also the worst in these two seasons. Rashid is currently playing in The Hundred and here he bowled the most expensive spell of his career.
Leg spinner Rashid Khan is a part of Oval Invincibles. In the match against Birmingham Phoenix, he conceded 59 runs in just 20 balls. This is his most expensive spell in T20 cricket.
Along with this, no bowler has ever conceded so many runs in a single spell in The Hundred. Earlier, in IPL 2025, he gave 54 runs in 4 overs in the match against RCB. In 2023, he also conceded 54 runs in the match against KKR.
28 runs in last 5 balls
Rashid Khan conceded 28 runs on his last 5 balls. Explosive batsman Liam Livingstone hit 4 consecutive sixes after hitting a four on the first ball. Joe Clarke hit two sixes while Will Smeed hit a six.
In the match, Oval batted first and scored 180 runs for 8 wickets. Donovan Ferreira scored 63 runs in 29 balls. Birmingham won the match with two balls to spare. Livingstone scored an unbeaten 69 runs in 27 balls. Will Smeed also played an innings of 51 runs in 29 balls.
This is not the first time Liam Livingstone has thrashed Rashid Khan. He hit 5 sixes against Rashid in a match while playing for RCB in IPL 2025. His strike rate against Rashid in T20 is 200. Livingstone has scored 196 runs in 98 balls. During this, 5 fours and 21 sixes have come from his bat. Rashid has also dismissed him four times.
ICC ODI Rankings: Rohit Sharma overtakes Babar Azam; makes gains despite not playing since March
Rohit Sharma jumped one place and reached the second position in the latest ICC ODI Rankings. With this, he left behind Pakistan's star batsman Babar Azam.
Indian ODI team captain Rohit Sharma has reached the second position in the men's ICC ODI rankings. In the new rankings released by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday, the Hitman jumped one place and reached the second position. With this, he left behind Pakistan's star batsman Babar Azam.
Rohit, who has already retired from Tests and T20I, last played an ODI in March during the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 final against New Zealand, which India won.
Rohit has scored 180 runs in the ICC Champions Trophy in five matches, boasting a highest strike rate of 100.00 among the Indian batters in the tournament. Rohit has 756 rating points in the latest rankings.
Babar failed to perform against West Indies
On the other hand, Babar could not show anything special in the recent ODI series against West Indies, which the Men in Green lost 1-2 in Trinidad. As a result, he slipped to the third position.
With Babar managing just 56 runs against West Indies in three ODIs, the International Cricket Council (ICC) took a note of his strike rate to drop him to third. He managed a strike rate of just 62.22 against West Indies.
Gill at No. 1
There has been no change in Shubman Gill's reign in the latest ICC ODI rankings for batters. He is in first place with 784 rating points. Apart from Gill and Rohit, the third Indian in the top five is Virat Kohli, who is in fourth place. He has 736 rating points.
India continues to dominate the ODI charts, with five players in the top 15, including Shreyas Iyer (8th) and KL Rahul (15th).
It is worth mentioning that the Indian team will tour Australia in October. During this time a three-match ODI series will be played between the two.
Rohit announced after Champions Trophy 2025 that he does not intend to retire from ODI cricket, even sharing a moment with Kohli joking about it during the celebrations.
However, despite having eyes on the 2027 Cricket World Cup, Rohit and Kohli's spots are reportedly not a guarantee in the ODI setup. In fact, as per reports in recent days, the veteran duo will also have to turn up in domestic cricket as a metric for form and fitness.
On the other hand, whether Rohit will continue to be captain till the World Cup is also a topic of debate. With 25-year-old Shubman Gill impressing in England, Rohit isn't an automatic captaincy selection anymore. However, the ODI rankings continue to reflect both Rohit and Kohli's continued prowess in the 50-over format.
Most Test centuries in the World Test Championship
Joe Root, with 21 test tons, has scored the most test centuries in the World Test Championship so far. Shubman Gill has entered the top 10 of the list recently.
The World Test Championship was started in 2019 to make Test cricket interesting. The Championship has changed the way Test Cricket is being played. Teams like England and India, along with Australia, have shown their aggressive brand of cricket.
South Africa are the current winner of the ICC World Test Championship. New Zealand and Australia have won the World Test Championships in the first two editions, while India played the final on both occasions.
Here are the players with the most Test centuries in the World Test Championship.
1. Joe Root | 21
Root dedicated his 21st century on WTC to former England keeper Graham Thorpe. Image | ICC
England's Joe Root has the most Test centuries in the World Test Championship. So far, he has scored 21 centuries in 126 innings of 69 matches. Root is also the batsman who has scored the most runs in this tournament, with6080 runs at an average of 52.86.
Till now, Root is the only batter to score more than 6000 runs in WTC history.
His best knock came against India in 2021 when he scored 228 in Chennai to help his side win the game.
Australia's Steve Smithhas now scored the most test centuries in the World Test Championship. The Aussie top-order batter has been one of the best test batters of this generation and has scored runs all around the world.
Smith is known for his unorthodox and yet effective batting style, which keeps on annoying the opponent's bowling lineups.
Till now in WTC, Steve Smith has scored 4225 runs at an outstanding average of 50.29, including 13 test centuries.
Australia's Marnus Labuschagne has scored 11 centuries in his Test career, and all have been scored in the World Test Championship. In 53 matches, he has scored 4225 runs at an average of 48.01 during the Test Championship.
Marnus used to have his test average over 50. However, a recent dip in form, which also led to him being dropped from the test side as well, brought his batting average down.
Still, he is the batter with the second-most test centuries and third-most runs in WTC history so far.
4. Kane Williamson | 11
Kane Williamson has batted amazingly in the World Test Championship. He has played only 28 matches so far in this tournament, but has managed to score 11 centuries in his 50 innings.
Williamson has the best average (61.34) among the batsmen who have scored at least 2000 runs in the World Test Championship. During the Test match versus South Africa, the former Kiwi skipper scored two tons in the same game.
Former Indian test captain Rohit Sharma is the only Indian batter included in the 'most Test centuries in the World Test Championship' list.
Before retiring from the format, Rohit played 40 matches during the Test Championship since 2019. In his 69 innings, he has scored 9 centuries and 8 half-centuries with his bat.
With 2716 runs in the World Test Championship in just 40 Tests, Rohit is the highest scorer for India in WTC history so far, with an average is 41.15. Rohit Sharma's all of 9 test tons in WTC came in winning cause for India.
Brook after scoring his latest test century, vs India in Birmingham. Image | Getty Images
Currently, the ICC No.1 Men's test batter, Harry Brook, comes at number six on our list of players with the most test centuries in the World Test Championship.
The English youngster has just played 26 test matches during the WTC cycles and has scored 9 centuries so far.
Apart from Joe Root, he has been the shining armour of the English batting lineup in the last two seasons. Brook, till now, has scored 2424 test runs in WTC at an average of 55.09, with an outstanding strike rate of 84.54, the highest in WTC history.
Gill after scoring his double ton against England at Edgbaston. Image | BCCI
Before starting his tenure as the captain of the Indian men's test cricket team, Shubman Gill was nowhere on this list of batters with the most test hundreds in WTC history.
But as he wore the blazer of the Indian team, he was a different beast. In the first two tests as captain, he hit three centuries, which also had a highest score of 269, the highest by any Indian test captain.
Till now, in 37 tests in WTC, Gill has scored 2647 runs at an average of 41.35, including 9 test tons.
8. Babar Azam | 8
The former Pakistan skipper has scored 8 centuries during the World Test Championship cycle. Babar Azam is the sixth in the list of batters with the most test centuries in WTC history.
In 36 matches, he has also scored 2998 runs at an average of 48.35 during the Test Championship.
The 29-year-old isn’t in the greatest of form currently, but on his day, Babar Azam is a delight to watch.
One of his most memorable knocks came against Australia in Karachi in 2022. Babar scored 196 while chasing a huge total in the 4th inning of the game.
9. Dhananjaya de Silva | 8
Sri Lanka's Dhananjaya De Silva might be one of the surprising names on this list.
The Sri Lanka captain has been one of the best batters for his country despite lacking support from the other end, most of the time.
So far, he has scored 8 centuries in 62 innings of 35 matches. Dhananjaya also scored 2509 runs, with an average of 44.80, during the Test Championship. Dhananjaya is also one of the active players with the most test centuries currently.
Head after scoring a ton against India in 2024. Image | Getty Images
Travis Head, the swashbuckling left-handed batter, has also scored 8 test tons during the World Test Championship cycle. The Aussie batter is one of the most dangerous middle-order batters in the world at the moment in test cricket.
Till now, in 51 matches in WTC, Head has scored 3264 runs at an average of 40.80, with a strike-rate of 72.85. Head also scored 15 fifties during the World Test Championship.
Head's 7 out of 8 test tons during the WTC came in a winning cause for Australia.
Australian opener Usman Khawaja has hit 8 centuries during the World Test Championship cycle.
In 42 matches, he has scored3251 runs at an average of 45.78. The Southpaw batter is a treat to watch when he is in song and has restored his career with some outstanding scores for the current WTC champions.
He was also the second-highest-scoring batsman in the 2021–2023 WTC cycle with 1,621 runs, the highest by an Australian batsman.
BoyCott Asia Cup: India fans rage about India playing cricket against Pakistan in Asia Cup 2025
The hashtag #BoycottAsiaCup is trending on X (formerly Twitter) as Indian cricket fans and social media users express outrage over India’s scheduled match against Pakistan in the 2025 Asia Cup.
The hashtag #BoycottAsiaCup is trending on X (formerly Twitter) as Indian cricket fans and social media users express outrage over India’s scheduled match against Pakistan in the 2025 Asia Cup. The tournament is set to take place from September 9 to 28 in the UAE, with India and Pakistan placed in the same group and likely to face each other up to a possible three times during the event.
India are the current Asia Cup Champions. Image | Mint
The backlash boosted following the tragic terrorist attack in Pahalgam in April 2025, which claimed 26 civilian lives, and India’s subsequent military response, Operation Sindoor. Many Indian fans see the decision to play Pakistan as insensitive and accuse the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) of prioritising commercial attractions over national sentiment. This has led to calls for the BCCI to boycott the Asia Cup to uphold a stance against Pakistan's involvement amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
Criticism has also targeted Indian players and officials for inconsistency, such as their boycott of a recent World Championship of Legends match against Pakistan, but their willingness to play in the Asia Cup. The controversy reflects the wider debate about whether sports should remain separate from political issues between the two nations.