The Afghanistan cricket team’s batters perform well in T20I games and have displayed that they are adept at this form of cricket. Notably, during the past few years, their batters have been doing well and contributing a crucial win in the shortest format of the game. In the same vein, we look out here at the three Afghanistan batters who have scored maximum numbers of runs during their T20I debuts.
1. Rahmanullah Gurbaz against Zimbabwe (43)
Former Afghanistan batsman Rahmanullah Gurbaz played his debut T20I against Zimbabwe on September 14, 2019, in Mirpur. The great top-order batter had amassed 43 runs from just 24 balls, which helped them post a great total of 197 runs. Later, while chasing, Zimbabwe was only able to rack up 169 runs and lost the match by 28 runs against Afghanistan. The wicketkeeper-batsman played his final match against Bangladesh on March 5, 2022. The former opener has appeared in 20 T20I matches and accumulated 534 runs at an average of 26.70.
2. Raees Ahmadzai against Ireland (33*)
Notably, on February 1, 2010, the star middle-order batter Raees Ahmadzai made his T20I debut against Ireland at Colombo. During the match, Afghanistan skipper Nawroz Mangal won the toss and invited Ireland to field first. After opting to bat first, they were only able to rack up 121 runs, while losing nine wickets against Ireland. The right-handed batter was only the highest run-scorer for his side, scoring an unbeaten 33 runs while featuring two magnificent boundaries. Later, while chasing, Ireland chased down the target with 11 balls to spare and won that match by five wickets.
3. Noor Ali Zadran against Canada (31)
On February 4, 2010, the great Afghanistan batter Noor Ali Zadran made his debut in the shortest format of the game against Canada at Colombo. On that day, Canada’s squad opted to bat first against a Mangal-led Afghanistan side. Following that target, while chasing, Afghanistan reached the target with one ball to spare and won that match by five wickets. The top-order batter produced a crucial 31 runs and also built a great partnership with Karim Sadiq to chase the target easily. The dashing batter is in third place when it comes to the number of runs scored for his nation.