Following what transpired in Dharamsala the other night, the action will move to the southern part of India in Chennai, where two Asian teams – Pakistan and Afghanistan, will lock horns in an exciting World Cup 2023 clash on Monday. Considering the fair share of history between these two countries, both on and off the field, cricket fans are eagerly waiting for this game to get underway. Here is the match preview and result prediction of the Pakistan vs Afghanistan World Cup 2023 match.

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Bowling still a worry, but Pakistan ready to break loose

The Men in Green struggled against India and Australia in their previous two matches, losing both, but will aim to get back on track with a win over Afghanistan in Chennai. Despite Shaheen Afridi’s five-for against the Aussies in their last match, Pakistan’s bowling hit rock bottom, with each of their bowlers leaking runs at a terrible rate.

Be it Haris Rauf or Hasan Ali, none looked like hitting the right lengths, let alone threatening batters with their sheer pace. Though the inclusion of Usama Mir ahead of underperforming Shadab Khan provided vital, Mohammed Nawaz not finding rhythm continues to worry them.

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Batting-heavy Pakistan will again rely on their top order to break loose against Afghanistan, with a new star in Abdullah Shafique at the top.

Pakistan’s unbeaten 7-0-win record over Afghanistan in ODIs will work to their advantage heading into this match.

Upset on the cards by Afghanistan?

Afghanistan had already beaten one of the top teams in this edition – England in Delhi. Given how close they came to topping Pakistan in ODIs earlier, a win over their rivals on Monday wouldn’t surprise anyone.

A team with perhaps the best spin attack in the world has a lot more to it, and they have shown thus far in this tournament. Despite expectations from the star-studded opening pair to click in every game, the middle order has come to the rescue mostly, with captain Hashmatullah Shahidi striking gold.

Result Prediction 

Afghanistan will challenge Pakistan and might even put them on the brink of a historic defeat in World Cups, but the experience might save the former world champions. Pakistan to beat Afghanistan.

Predicted XIs –

Afghanistan – Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Azmatullah Omarzai, Ikram Alikhil (wk), Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi

Pakistan – Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed, Usama Mir, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf 

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