ICC World Cup Factbox: How Afghanistan have fared in quadrennial showpiece event over the years

Over the last decade or so, Afghanistan have gradually developed themselves as a cricketing powerhouse in the limited-overs formats.

They have reputed names, like Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz to name a few, but the Afghans have failed to qualify past the group stage in their only two appearances in ODI World Cups — 2015 and 2019.

So, how did they do in the group stages of both editions? Let’s take a look

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World Cup recap: In the first two decades since the inaugural edition of the World Cup in 1975, Afghanistan were never even in the picture since they were not members of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Despite cricket being a popular sport in the country during the 1990s and 2000s, it was only in 2008 when Afghanistan were in Division Five of the World Cricket League. However, they would go onto climb up the ladder, gaining status as a Full Associate Member in 2013.

Two years later, Afghanistan would make their ODI World Cup debut, in Australia and New Zealand. They were drawn in a tough group, consisting of England, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Scotland.

Their only win of the tournament would come against Scotland in Dunedin, where Samiullah Shinwari starred with a knock of 96 to help his team chase down 211 with just one wicket to spare.

Fast forward four years, in 2019 in England, Afghanistan would establish themselves as a well-balanced unit with a strong core team.

They had Gulbadin Naib captain the side, while Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Asghar Afghan and Hazratullah Zazai were a few stars to keep an eye on.

Yet, there was nothing much for Afghans to smile about throughout the tournament, after they finished rock-bottom of the 10-team table without any wins, despite putting up a fight against India and Pakistan.

Come the 2023 World Cup, Afghanistan would hope to forget the ghosts of their last two World Cup campaigns and start from scratch, with a fresh mindset.

Edition-wise performances

1975: Did not participate

1979: Did not participate

1983: Did not participate

1987: Did not participate

1992: Did not participate

1996: Did not participate

1999: Did not participate

2003: Did not participate

2007: Did not qualify

2011: Did not qualify

2015: Group stage

2019: Group stage

World Cup record: Matches: 15; Wins: 1; Losses: 14; No Result: 0; Tied: 0

Team records

Highest total: 288 vs West Indies in Leeds, 2019

Lowest total: 111/7 vs England in Sydney, 2015

Individual records

Most runs: Rahmat Shah (3269 runs)

Most wickets: Rashid Khan (172 wickets)

Highest individual score: Samiullah Shinwari (96 vs Scotland in Dunedin, 2015)

Best bowling figures: Mohammad Nabi (4/30 vs Sri Lanka in Cardiff, 2019)

Most catches: Mohammad Nabi (8 catches)

ICC ODI ranking: 9

Schedule

7 October: vs Bangladesh in Dharamsala

11 October: vs India in New Delhi

15 October: vs England in New Delhi

18 October: vs New Zealand in Chennai

23 October: vs Pakistan in Chennai

30 October: vs Sri Lanka in Pune

3 November: vs Netherlands in Lucknow

7 November: vs Australia in Mumbai

10 November: vs South Africa in Ahmedabad

World Cup squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq.