England cricket team would be crestfallen after losing the match by 69 runs against the spirited Afghanistan. Sam Curran was quite ineffective with the ball in hand. Sam Curran conceded 46 runs in 4 overs and was taken to the cleaners by the Afghanistan batting unit.
Afghanistan’s batters took calculative risks as posting a target of 285 runs was not an easy task. The decision to play Ikram Alikhil in place of Najibullah Zadran did pay off. Ikram smashed a significant knock of 58 runs in 66 balls and struck 3 fours and 2 sixes. The lower-order contributions from Mujeeb & Rashid too were quite important for the side.
Afghanistan’s batting unit didn’t panic by the rare failure of Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi & the veteran batter Mohammad Nabi. The spinners were getting ample assistance from the surface but it seemed that the management missed a trick by resting Moeen Ali against Afghanistan.
Sam Curran is looking even more ordinary than 50-50- Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra was seen speaking on his You Tube channel and was quite astounded that Britishers opted to bowl first against Afghanistan that too on a flat deck. Aakash Chopra pointed out that England’s bowling department looked scratchy and said that having only one leg spinner in the form of Adil Rashid didn’t keep the team in good stead.
“When England said they would bowl first after winning the toss, I was personally surprised because it was a small ground and an extremely flat pitch. They said there would be dew but dew was not at all there when India played their last match here,” said Aakash Chopra.
“In such a case, if you have batting depth like England and you say that you will score 350-400, then bat first. They forgot that England’s bowling is looking extremely ordinary. Reece Topley did well in one match. Chris Woakes is looking 50-50. Sam Curran is not even looking 50-50, he is looking even more ordinary than that,” he stated.
“There isn’t much might seen in England’s bowling. You have only one leg-spinner in the form of Adil Rashid. You get Liam Livingstone to bowl 10 overs and Joe Root to bowl as well. Mark Wood, no doubt, bowled better but the bowling is not looking strong,” he added.
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