Afghanistan A are the ACC Emerging T20 T20 Asia Cup 2024 champions. They defeated Sri Lanka A by 7 wickets in the tournament’s final.
They lost only one match in the tournament. It was in the league stage of the tournament against Hong Kong. Afghanistan A defeated India A in the semi-final. The bowling unit performed well with all the bowlers putting in important contributions. It was the main reason for their success in the tournament.
Afghanistan’s Sediqullah Atal ended up as the highest run-scorer of the tournament. He was exceptional with the bat and played a key role in Afghanistan’s triumph.
The tournament started on 18th October and the final was played on 27th October. A total of 12 group-stage matches were played. A total of 8 teams participated in the tournament with 2 groups of 4 teams each.
Afghanistan cricket’s rise in world cricket
The title win from Afghanistan A in the Emerging T20 Teams Asia Cup 2024 further proves Afghansitan rising stature in the world of cricket. They did well in the 2023 ODI World Cup and qualified for the semi-final of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
More and more impressive players are coming from Afghanistan with the likes of Sediqullah Atal and Allah Ghazanfar being the latest ones. Ghazanfar was very impressive in his debut series recently. He played a key role when Afghanistan defeated South Africa in a 3-match ODI series.
He picked up 6 wickets in 4 matches of the Emerging T20 Teams Asia Cup. On the other hand, Sediqullah Atal had a great tournament. He showed excellent composure with the bat and was deservedly the best batter.
Atal scored 83 runs in the first semi-final against India A and then a calculated 55* in the finals to see his over the line.
Ramandeep Singh, Ayush Badoni, Rasikh Salam and Abhishek Sharma were the top performers for India. Ramandeep was impressive with both bat and ball. Abhishek (134 runs) was India A’s highest run scorer. Rasikh Salam was impressive with his variations and picked up 9 wickets. Ramandeep Singh was also quite impressive and it earned him an national call.
