Afghanistan Vs South Africa
South Africa and Afghanistan will host a much-awaited One-Day International (ODI) series. South Africa will have to miss their regular captain, Temba Bavuma, as he will not be able to take part in this series due to his illness. It would be the first bilateral ODI for both teams, which will be a historic moment as neither of these sides has so far played an official bilateral ODI outside of ICC tournaments.
The other opener will be Aiden Markram, with whom the Proteas will be hoping to find some redemption after a poor run of losses in one-day cricket, having recently suffered defeat at the hands of India, losing by 1-2. Afghanistan would be coming into the series off the back of recent success against Ireland, having defeated them 2-0 in a recently completed ODI series early in the year.
Afghanistan will welcome spinner Rashid Khan back to the squad for the series but will still miss opener Ibrahim Zadran and spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who have a break. South Africa has decided to rest some of their top performers, most notably David Miller and Kagiso Rabada. However, the side welcomes back a pacer in Lungi Ngidi and gets its first ODI outing for all-rounder Andile Simelane.
The first ODI is due to start at 4:00 PM local time, which is 5:30 PM IST in Sharjah. The action will be live-streamed with broadcast coverage on Eurosport in India, SuperSport in South Africa, and RTA Sports in Afghanistan.
This series will be an excellent test for both teams as they fine-tune their squads with a view to future international competition.
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Jawad Shah