Afghanistan hunt for winning start as Rashid Khan takes over ODI reins
Overview
Afghanistan v West Indies1st ODIEkana International Cricket Stadium, LucknowWednesday, 6 November; 02:00pm local, 08:30am GMT
The start of Rashid Khan's captaincy tenure has been rather impressive. In his first international fixture as captain in all three formats, he led Afghanistan to a historic win against Bangladesh – their first in Test cricket. A big win it was, too!
He then led them to T20I victories against Zimbabwe and Bangladesh in a tri-series. Now, he is set to lead them in ODIs for the first time since being handed the charge for all three formats, when his men take on West Indies in the first of three matches.
WATCH: Afghanistan squad are fully ready for the upcoming series against @windiescricket in Lucknow Ekana Stadium, India.#AFGvWI@Farhan_YusEfzai pic.twitter.com/kspeB4RPRJ
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) November 3, 2019
Afghanistan will also have other motivations to do well. A lot was expected of them at the World Cup in England, but despite coming close to beating India and Pakistan, they lost each of their nine league stage matches under the leadership of Gulbadin Naib. A win in their first 50-over game since that tournament will do a lot of good for their collective confidence.
West Indies themselves had a disappointing World Cup campaign, winning only two of their games. Subsequently, they lost every completed game against India across all three formats at home. As a consequence, Kieron Pollard has been handed the limited-overs captaincy.
The 32-year-old carries a wealth of experience with him, having represented West Indies in over 160 limited-overs matches. He led the side in two ODIs in 2013 with mixed results, earning a win against India but losing to Sri Lanka. This will be his first stint as full-time captain. Can he use this series as an opportunity to pave the way forward for the team?
Some pictures from Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow where team Afghanistan will face @windiescricket in three T20Is, three ODIs and a one-off Test from 6th November to 1st December.#AFGvWI pic.twitter.com/YI0EkTwI2W
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) November 2, 2019
What happened last time
West Indies racked up 311/6 when the two sides met in the World Cup, with Evin Lewis, Shai Hope and Nicholas Pooran making half-centuries. Afghanistan made a fist of the chase, thanks to fifties from Rahmat Shah and Ikram Alikhil, but fell 23 runs short in the end. Kemar Roach and Carlos Brathwaite were instrumental for West Indies with the ball, taking seven wickets between them.
What they said
**Rashid Khan, Afghanistan captain: "**We have the Afghani power, and this boundary will also be small for us. But we will have to play smart cricket and not focus much on big shots. Because on such big grounds, you have to play smart cricket."
Kieron Pollard, West Indies captain:""We as a team, we have to plan how we are going to structure our fifty overs of batting and then our fifty overs of bowling. Each and every one of us is a good player and has own right to show what we have to offer."
Conditions
The weather is expected to be warm and pleasant. This venue has previously hosted only one international game – a T20I – and while India scored 195/2, West Indies were only able to respond with 124/9.