Afghanistan and Ireland go head to head with one eye on ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018
Afghanistan and Ireland will have one eye on the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 when they go head to head in a three-match ODI series starting in Sharjah on Tuesday, 5 December.
Tenth-ranked Afghanistan and 12th-ranked Ireland will both feature in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, a 10-team event from which two teams will join Australia, Bangladesh, hosts England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Sri Lanka in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 to be staged in the United Kingdom.
The ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 will be played in Zimbabwe from 2 to 25 March, and apart from these two sides and hosts Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Windies have already secured positions. Hong Kong, Scotland and Kenya are battling out for the two remaining places from the ICC World Cricket League Championship, which will be confirmed by 8 December.
The 10-team line-up for the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018 will be completed in Namibia in February 2018 when the finalists of the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 will take a step forward in cherishing their dreams of playing in the ICC’s pinnacle 50-over competitions.
For Afghanistan and Ireland, the three-match ODI series will serve as an opportunity to prepare and try various playing combinations before the Zimbabwe challenge. For Ireland, this series will be far more important as according to the existing Future Tours Programme, this is its only ODI series before the qualifiers.
In contrast, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe will give a final touch-up to their preparations when they will take on each other in a five-ODI series from 9-19 February in Sharjah.
Apart from aiming to cement their places in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, players from either side will also be targeting to improve their positions in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings.
In the batting table, which is headed by India’s Virat Kohli, Ireland’s Paul Stirling is the highest-ranked batsman from either side in 35th position. The 27-year-old top-order batsman has played 84 ODIs, including 13 against Afghanistan in which he has scored 477 runs. Stirling will be targeting a personal milestone in this series when he will try to convert his two scores of 90s (95 and 99 in March this year) into three figures to register his first century against the Asian side.
Ireland’s experience trio of Kevin O’Brien, William Porterfield and Niall O’Brien are outside the top-50 in 54th, 59th and 74th positions respectively. Kevin, a veteran of 112 ODIs, Porterfield, who has played 106 ODIs, and Niall, who has represented his country in 87 ODIs, have collectively played 29 ODIs against Afghanistan in which they have scored a total of 773 runs.
Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi is his side’s highest-ranked batsman in 53rd position and will be looking to enter the top-50. Nabi has played 13 ODIs against Ireland in which he has scored 258 runs and taken 15 wickets.
Other Afghanistan batsmen aiming to make upward movements include Samiullah Shenwari (89th), Rehman Shah (91st), Zoor Ali Zadran (96th) and Asghar Stanikzai (99th).
Amongst the bowlers, Afghanistan’s wrist spinner Rashid Khan features prominently in the list in ninth position. The teenager has a good opportunity to climb the ladder as he is not only six points behind India’s eighth-ranked Axar Patel but is also in his qualification period, meaning if he takes wickets, then he will jump in the rankings.
This will be Rashid’s third series against Ireland. In 29 ODIs to date, Rashid has taken 63 wickets, including seven for 18 against the Windies in St Lucia in June 2017.
Apart from Rashid, Nabi (16th), Hamza Hotak (21st), Mirwais Ashraf (31st) and Dawlat Zadran (47th) feature inside the top-50. These stats clearly give Afghanistan an advantage against their European rivals in a series which will be played in conditions known better to them.
Nabi is also the highest-ranked all-rounder from either side in third position, 17 points behind second-ranked Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh, while Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez is the top-ranked all-rounder.
Series schedule:
5 Dec – 1st ODI, Sharjah
7 Dec – 2nd ODI, Sharjah
10 Dec – 3rd ODI, Sharjah
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Team Rankings (as on 5 December, before the start of Afghanistan v Ireland ODIs):
Rank Team Points
-
South Africa 121
-
India 120
-
Australia 114
-
England 114
-
New Zealand 111
-
Pakistan 99
-
Bangladesh 92
-
Sri Lanka 83
-
West Indies 77
- Afghanistan 54
- Zimbabwe 52
- Ireland 41
(Developed by David Kendix)
MRF Tyres ICC ODI Player Rankings (as on 5 December, before the start of Afghanistan v Ireland ODIs):
BATSMEN (top 10)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
1 Virat Kohli Ind 889! 55.74 889 v NZ at Kanpur 2017
2 AB de Villiers SA 872 54.06 902 v NZ at Auckland 2015
3 David Warner Aus 865 44.94 880 v Pak at Adelaide 2017
4 Babar Azam Pak 846*! 58.60 846 v SL at Sharjah 2017
5 Quinton de Kock SA 808! 45.85 808 v Ban at East London 2017
6 Joe Root Eng 802 50.00 808 v Win at Bristol 2017
7 Rohit Sharma Ind 799! 44.33 799 v NZ at Kanpur 2017
8 Faf du Plessis SA 773 43.90 791 v SL at Cape Town 2017
9 Hashim Amla SA 766 51.25 901 v Eng at Trent Bridge 2012
10 Kane Williamson NZ 760 46.31 798 v SA at Centurion 2015
SELECTED RANKINGS
Rank Player Team Points Avge Highest Rating
23 Kyle Coetzer Sco 636*! 42.63 636 v PNG at Dubai 2017
35 Paul Stirling Ire 566 33.85 693 v Pak at Dublin 2013
53 Mohammad Nabi Afg 533 29.42 545 v Ban at Mirpur 2016
54 Kevin O'Brien Ire 532 31.64 602 v Net at Amstelveen 2013
59 W. Porterfield Ire 518 31.54 537 v Ban at Belfast 2010
65 Calum MacLeod Sco 508 32.97 511 v PNG at Dubai 2017
74 Niall O'Brien Ire 487 29.86 513 v Ind at Hamilton 2015
89 S. Shenwari Afg 446 30.80 561 v NZ at Napier 2015
91 Rahmat Shah Afg 436* 34.60 448 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
94 R. Berrington Sco 426 24.81 459 v SL at Hobart 2015
96 Noor Ali Zadran Afg 422 26.27 469 v Zim at Sharjah 2015
98 Gary Wilson Ire 418 24.54 491 v Aus at Belfast 2012
99 Asghar Stanikzai Afg 417 22.64 450 v SL at Dunedin 2015
BOWLERS (top 10)
Rank Player Team Points Avge Eco. Highest Rating
1 Hasan Ali Pak 759*! 19.82 5.11 759 v SL at Sharjah 2017
2 Imran Tahir SA 743 23.72 4.64 786 v SL at Johannesburg 2017
3 Jasprit Bumrah Ind 719*! 22.26 4.76 719 v NZ at Kanpur 2017
4 Josh Hazlewood Aus 714 23.85 4.69 732 v Eng at Edgbaston 2017
5 Kagiso Rabada SA 708 26.08 5.05 724 v Eng at Lord's 2017
6 Mitchell Starc Aus 684 20.13 4.81 783 v NZ at Melbourne 2015
7 Trent Boult NZ 671 26.21 5.04 766 v Ind at Delhi 2016
8 Akshar Patel Ind 653* 31.31 4.43 663 v Aus at Nagpur 2017
9 Rashid Khan Afg 647*! 14.74 3.97 647 v Win at St Lucia 2017
10= Sunil Narine Win 646 26.46 4.12 791 v SL at Jamaica 2013
Liam Plunkett Eng 646! 30.22 5.77 646 v Win at Southampton 2017
SELECTED RANKINGS
Rank Player Team Points Avge Eco. Highest Rating
16 Mohammad Nabi Afg 618 32.74 4.29 653 v Zim at Harare 2017
21 Hamza Hotak Afg 564* 25.40 3.92 571 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
31 Mirwais Ashraf Afg 542* 29.56 4.06 579 v Ban at Mirpur 2016
33 Tim Murtagh Ire 538* 38.61 4.77 548 v NZ at Malahide 2017
47 Dawlat Zadran Afg 506 28.44 5.33 574 v Zim at Sharjah 2016
52 George Dockrell Ire 488 35.30 4.58 589 v Win at Nelson 2015
63 Kevin O'Brien Ire 450 31.27 5.24 477 v Zim at Harare 2010
67 Josh Davey Sco 447* 21.57 5.07 456 v Zim at Edinburgh 2017
74 Andy McBrine Ire 427* 37.95 4.79 440 v Afg at Greater Noida 2017
83 Alasdair Evans Sco 411* 27.79 5.00 415 v PNG at Dubai 2017
85 Safyaan Sharif Sco 401*! 30.90 4.97 401 v PNG at Dubai 2017
90 Paul Stirling Ire 382 45.05 4.78 440 v Afg at Belfast 2016
94 Gulbadin Naib Afg 364*! 30.60 5.20 364 v Win at St Lucia 2017
ALL-ROUNDERS (top three)
Rank Player Team Points Highest Rating
1 M. Hafeez Pak 352 438 v Ind at Kolkata 2013
2 Shakib Al Hasan Ban 346 453 v Zim at Chittagong 2009
3 Mohammad Nabi Afg 329 349 v Ire at Greater Noida 2017
*Indicates a provisional rating
! Indicates career-best rating
For more information on player rankings, please click here.