ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024: Afghanistan team preview

Rashid Khan’s men must dig deeper in tough situations to push for a place in the ICC T20 World Cup semifinals.

Captain: Rashid Khan
Fixtures: Uganda (June 4), New Zealand (June 8), Papua New Guinea (June 14), West Indies (June 18)
Best finish at T20 World Cup: Super Eight.

Afghanistan enter the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 as one of the dark horses poised to cause an upset and put their fearless brand of cricket on show, according to their former coach Stuart Law.

The 2010 debutants have reached the Super Eight stage in each of the last three editions of the tournament – steady progress from the first-round exits in their first three attempts.

Law believes Afghanistan are not far from reaching the knockouts and it could happen in the 2024 edition of the tournament in the United States and the West Indies in June.

“I love the way they play their cricket. There’s no fear in the way they go about it,” Law, who is now in charge of the USA team, told Al Jazeera.

“They are always aggressive, always attacking. I haven’t seen too many defensive players and the defensive players don’t seem to be thrust into the main team a lot.

“So they are very positive the way they go about it.”

Their grit was on display late last year in India where they finished sixth, by the barest of margins, behind Pakistan and failed to qualify for the semifinals despite an inspired run in the second half of the round-robin stage.

After only three appearances at the Cricket World Cup, Afghanistan finished ahead of former champions England and Sri Lanka.

This time around, they open their tournament campaign on June 4 against debutants Uganda, in a group that also includes New Zealand, co-hosts West Indies and Papa New Guinea.

Law, who coached Afghanistan in