<\/p>\n
CHENNAI: Pakistan have two perfect records on the line in their World Cup clash against Afgha\u00adnistan on Monday. They\u2019ve won both One-Day Inter\u00adnationals they\u2019ve played against India in Chennai, while they boast a 7-0 record against the Afghans in ODIs.<\/p>\n
So when they face their counterparts from the northwestern border at the M.A. Chidambaram Sta\u00addi\u00adum, they will enter the game as favourites on paper.<\/p>\n
Apart from the on-field calculations, however, the Pakistan-Afghanistan cricketing rivalry has developed some needle to it and the duo have been involved in some feisty thrillers in recent times.<\/p>\n
The last time they met at the World Cup was four years ago in Leeds where Pakistan clinched a three-wicket victory with two balls to spare; sparking riots between the two sets of fans outside Headingley.<\/p>\n
At the Twenty20 Asia Cup last year, where Pakis\u00adtan edged the Afghans in yet another nail-biter, Afghanistan pacer Fareed Malik and Pakistan batsman Asif Ali almost came to blows.<\/p>\n
There was another keenly-contested clash between the two sides in Hambantota in August, where Pakistan edged their neighbours by a wicket in the second game of a three-match ODI series they swept.<\/p>\n
Apart from the fact that both teams need a win to revive their respective wins, the game is being played in the backdrop of stormy political ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n
Pakistan has seen a sharp rise in militant attacks since the Taliban came back to power in Afghanistan in 2021.<\/p>\n
The militant assaults have been focused in regions abutting Afghanistan, and Islamabad alleges some are being planned on Afghan soil \u2014 a charge Kabul denies.<\/p>\n
Pakistan has also recently announced a plan to evict hundreds of thousands of Afghan migrants living in Pakistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think for them [Afghanistan players] it\u2019s a rivalry that excites them,\u201d Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott told reporters on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a rivalry that sometimes in the past has been very passionate. We\u2019ve had very close games as well. Hopefully tomorrow isn\u2019t very exciting and we win by a lot. It\u2019s just the nature of the rivalry, I should say. Both teams, I think, respect each other, but are very desperate to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
After consecutive defeats against India and Australia, Pakistan are desperate for a victory as another slip up will severely hamper their ambitions to reach the semifinals of the tournament.<\/p>\n
Afghanistan pulled off a shock victory over defending champions England but have also slumped to three defeats.<\/p>\n
Pakistan are looking at the past, hoping to continue their streak despite the fact that Afghanistan\u2019s spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeebur ehman and Moham\u00admad Nabi can kick up a mayhem at a venue renowned as a slow bowlers\u2019 paradise.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know this ground favours spinners and they have quality spin bowlers but we have beaten them 3-0 recently in a one-day series in Sri Lanka under the same conditions,\u201d Pakistan opener Imamul Haq told reporters on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know Afghanistan is a good team and in these conditions they will be tough but we are ready for that and will execute our plans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Published in Dawn, October 23rd, 2023<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" CHENNAI: Pakistan have two perfect records on the line in their World Cup clash against Afgha\u00adnistan on Monday. They\u2019ve won both One-Day Inter\u00adnationals they\u2019ve played against India in Chennai, while they boast a 7-0 record against the Afghans in ODIs. So when they face their counterparts from the northwestern border at the M.A. Chidambaram Sta\u00addi\u00adum, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2023\/10\/23080151065c80a.jpg?r=080158","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-islamabad-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t