‘If it's a spinning wicket, I think Afghanistan will be slightly ahead as favourites’ - Ramiz Raja on Pakistan’s upcoming ODI World Cup 2023 clash

Ramiz Raja, former Pakistan captain, reckoned that Afghanistan would be the favourites against Pakistan on a spin-friendly wicket. The two teams will lock horns in the ongoing ODI World Cup at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, on Monday, October 23. Notably, Pakistan began their tournament with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka. However, they failed to keep the momentum and fell short against India and Australia, respectively.

In his interesting insight, the former PCB chief and commentator believes that the Men in Green have not looked quite comfortable against the spinners in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. As the venue is known for favouring spinners and with the likes of Rashid Khan and co. it will be difficult for Pakistan batters to play freely. Hence Raja believes that the Afghan side having the best spin trio in the world currently, may cause problems in the upcoming fixture.

"It will be difficult for Pakistan to make a turnaround. Anything can happen in Chennai in their next match, which is against Afghanistan. Keeping in mind the performance of Pakistan batters against spin, anything can happen here. If it's a spinning wicket, I think Afghanistan will be slightly ahead as favourites," Raja said on his YouTube channel.

 I have never seen a team get such a huge penalty for dropping a catch: Ramiz Raja

Furthermore, Ramiz Raja went on to criticize Pakistan's sloppy fielding in their previous match against Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru which the Men in Green lost by 62 runs. Usama Mir missed David Warner’s catch very early. Notably, the mistake cost them the match as the Australian opener went on to hit a remarkable knock. The southpaw amassed 163 off 124 balls, including 14 boundaries and nine maximums to help Australia post a mammoth 368-run target.

Apart from Warner, Mitchell Marsh also scored a gritty knock of 121 runs off 1088 deliveries. Meanwhile, for Pakistan, Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf picked five and three wickets, respectively. Later, Babar Azam and Co. were restricted to 305 in 45.3 overs.

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"It is rare in cricket that if a catch is dropped, a player suffers punishment throughout the match. Usama Mir dropped a simple catch. Warner then had 10 runs and he went on to score 163 runs. I have never seen a team get such a huge penalty for dropping a catch. From there, the shape of the match changed. If Shaheen (Afridi) could have sent back Warner, Australia could have been put under pressure. Pakistan's fielding was very bad," Raja concluded.