Asghar Stanikzai

Skipper Asghar Stanikzai's crucial half-century, coupled with Samiullah Shenwari's 13-ball 31, the quickest for Afghanistan, got their side a useful 153/7, 106 of which came in final ten.

Bolstered by their record win against South Africa in Mumbai, England will aim to continue the momentum and brighten their chances of making it to the semi-final when they face Afghanistan in Delhi on Wednesday.

Put in to bat first, Afghanistan made 123/7 against the West Indies in their last match of Super 10 Group 1 at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on Sunday.

Opener Mohammad Shahzad top-scored with a sparkling 39-ball 61 as Afghanistan defeated Scotland by 14 runs in their ICC World Twenty20 match on Tuesday.

Asghar Stanikzai wants Afghanistan to improve their fielding which has cost them dearly in last two matches and has targeted at least one win in the Super 10 stage.

South Africa vs Afghanistan: It is match-ups like these at an event like the World T20 that induces an air of indifference from fans.

If there's one thing Afghanistan are not carrying at the World T20, it's the baggage of expectations.

India opener Shikhar Dhawan moved up 10 places to achieve a career-best 24 while teammates Murali Vijay and Ravindra Jadeja also moved up in the latest ICC Test rankings.

The journey of Shapoor Zadran, a huge frame with a genial approach, is symbolic to the battles endured by cricket in Afghanistan. Poverty, fear of the war-stricken society and now gun attacks, the veteran left-arm pacer's zeal is the paradigm in Afghan cricket.

While a few batting collapses can be put down to inexperience, Afghanistan are still a team full of promise and stand out as the best in the world of associate teams.

The five cricketers from Afghanistan are keeper batsman Mohammad Shahzad, a well-known MS Dhoni fan, skipper Asghar Stanikzai, allrounder Mohammad Nabi, 18-year-old legspinner Rashid Khan and medium-pacer Dawlat Zadran.

Afghanistan would be aiming to spoil West Indies' party by registering their maiden win in the ICC World Twenty20 when they take on the 2012 champions in the penultimate match of Group 1 in Nagpur on Sunday.

Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai hailed his team members for defending a modest total of 123 to script a historic win against the 2012 champions West Indies in the World T20 cricket tournament.

Set to make its historic Test debut against formidable India starting on Thursday, Afghanistan is heavily banking on its experience of playing in four-day games to challenge the hosts, said the visiting team captain Asghar Stanikzai.

Afghanistan registered first big upset of the ICC World Twenty20 2016, defeating mighty West Indies by six runs in their last match of the Super 10 stage at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur. They led a tremendous campaign in the WorldT20. Asghar Stanikzai spoke on the team’s experience in the tournament and whom he picks to win the WorldT20.

"We struggled to help Afghanistan cricket rise from zero to Test status. I have been a witness to it for all 18 years," Mohammad Nabi told TOI a day after his team qualified for the Super Four of the Asia Cup.

The carefree Afghans look to raise their game one notch higher in the hope to claim their first big Test-playing nation in this ongoing World T20.

Follow all the live action from match 24 of World T20 between England and Afghanistan being played at the Feroz Shah Kotla

After the match, in a rare and heartwarming gesture, India's stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane called Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai and the rest of the Afghan team for the victory photo opportunity

At 19 years and 165 days of age, highly-rated Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, the No. 1 Twenty20 International bowler, on Sunday became the youngest captain in the history of international cricket.

Defending champions Sri Lanka had to toil hard to get past Afghanistan by six wickets and make a winning start in the Super10s of World Twenty20 at the Eden Gardens on Thursday evening.

War-torn Afghanistan is hoping for cricket to restore peace in the country.

On Thursday, as the strife-torn nation gained ICC's full membership and became eligible to play Tests, every cricket lover from Kabul to Jalalabad is likely to be in rapture. But Afghan refugees in India, many of them passionate cricket fans, would have an extra reason to be elated.

TOI takes a look at the subplots that may dictate the final outcome of the WT20 Super 10 match between England and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai believes the 'world-class' spinners in his team will pose a serious challenge to the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up in the historic one-off Test in Bengaluru from June 14.

Growing in confidence with every opportunity that has come their way, Afghanistan cricket captain Asghar Stanikzai on Wednesday said his team knows how to beat the big guns of the game but the ICC has to give it enough chances.

Afghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai said his side will head into next year's World Cup aiming to lift the trophy, after capping a remarkable recovery in qualifying by thrashing the West Indies in Sunday's final.

Mohammad Shahzad is the other MS who has managed to take the World T20 by storm.

351 players will officially go under the hammer in the 2017 Indian Premier League auction, the IPL governing body confirmed on Tuesday (February 14). The final list has been pruned from 799 players who registered their names for the auction.