South Africa play Afghanistan for the first time in a bilateral series against the backdrop of severe criticism from one of the country's top human rights organisations, Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR). On Tuesday, LHR released a statement calling the three-match series a "tacit endorsement of the Taliban's repressive regime".
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has chosen not to respond but earlier in the week, the South African Cricketers Association (SACA) issued a statement in support of Afghan women , which was echoed by ODI captain Temba Bavuma .
Not for the first time, Bavuma finds himself in the awkward position of having to discuss off-field issues while preparing for on-field ones. It was in the UAE in 2021 that Bavuma fronted the media when Quinton de Kock opted to sit out a T20 World Cup match against West Indies rather than follow a CSA directive to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.
Now, CSA's only instruction is to focus preparations on ODI cricket with the Champions Trophy looming. But the backlash at home is fierce as LHR has accused them of undermining the country's "own values and human rights obligations," and SACA asked CSA to use its leverage to highlight the situation facing Afghan women, who are banned from public life. It is understood there are internal discussions on whether and how CSA can speak out for women, but no decisions have been made yet.
Instead, the focus will shift to three matches that will be played in Sharjah this week, with conditions, team combinations and tactics up for discussion.
Who is more settled in Sharjah?
The UAE is one of Afghanistan's adopted homes, and they have played 25 ODIs in Sharjah, dating back to 2010. Their most recent matches in the format, against Ireland, were also there. Of those, they've won 16 and lost 9, mostly to Zimbabwe and Ireland. Mohammad Nabi has played in all those matches and is Afghanistan's second-leading runs-scorer at the ground with 557 runs, including two fifties and also their highest wicket-taker at the venue with 35 at an average of 22.02.
On the other hand, South Africa have played 12 ODIs in Sharjah and won 10, but have not been to the venue since 2013. None of the current squad were at the series against Pakistan 11 years ago and David Miller, who is not involved in this series as he competes in the CPL, is the only player from that time who is still nationally contracted.
Batting in the spotlight: Beyond the top order
Though Afghanistan's opening batter Ibrahim Zadran has been ruled out of the series with an ankle sprain, the presence of Rahmanullah Gurbaz , their first ODI centurion, still makes their top order a threat. Lungi Ngidi identified it as the area South Africa needed to target.
"They seem to be very aggressive up front so the biggest thing for us is going to be to control the top end of their batting lineup," Ngidi said, at a media engagement on Tuesday. "If you can take care of that and then make sure that you squeeze the lower half, it should be all right."
Afghanistan's strength is arguably South Africa's weakness as they navigate ODI cricket after de Kock's retirement at the ODI World Cup last year. Bavuma, who entered that tournament in form but was then the only batter in the top six that did not score a century, has the opportunity to re-stake his claim as a leader in this format. Bavuma, however, has been ruled out of the series opener with illness. Tony de Zorzi's century against India in December has set him up for a long run in the format while Reeza Hendricks will also want to re-find form after a lean patch in the T20Is in West Indies.
How do the attacks stack up?
Variation is the best adjective to describe what both bowling line-ups look like with at least one left-arm seamer - Fazalhaq Farooqi and Fareed Ahmed for Afghanistan and Nandre Burger for South Africa - in either squad. Almost every member of the Afghan side can turn their arm over, which means they won't be short of options, and Ngidi believes that's where their advantage lies.
"We know that their bowling is probably one of their strengths, so we're going to have to make sure that whatever they get on the board, we can chase it down and that our batters don't give them easy opportunities," he said.
South Africa will also know there is some inexperience especially among the young Afghan quicks - Bilal Sami and Naveed Zadran, who were part of their 2022 Under-19 World Cup squad - but will be more concerned with assessing the quality of their own seam-bowling allrounders. They have three in the squad for this series. Andile Phehlukwayo and Wiaan Mulder are well-known names who need to work on consistency while there could be a debut for Andile Simelane.
Young spinners to look out for
Perhaps the most exciting component of the series will be to watch the progression of the young spinners on either side. For Afghanistan, it's the offspinner AM Ghazanfar , who played at the 2024 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa and stunned New Zealand with three wickets upfront and is starting to find his feet in senior international cricket. He has two ODI caps to his name, both earned against Ireland in Sharjah in March, and is still searching for his first wicket.
For South Africa, it's the legspinner Nqabayomzi Peter , who was named the CSA's domestic newcomer of the season and T20 challenge player of the season at the annual awards and who bowled his domestic team, the Lions, to victory in the T20 tournament. Peter made his international debut in West Indies and has limited experience in longer formats. To date, he only has six List A matches to his name and his seventh could well be an ODI.
Who is missing?
In a packed cricket calendar, there has to be some attention on those who sit out. Apart from Zadran, Afghanistan are also without Mujeeb Ur Rahman, who has a finger injury. Of their CPL players, South Africa will only have Tristan Stubbs available for the ODIs, with Miller, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi and Anrich Nortje all at the tournament. Heinrich Klaasen is dealing with a family matter, Kagiso Rabada is being rested and Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee are in a conditioning block, and are expected to return only by November.
That means South Africa are providing plenty of opportunity for the next tier of players, and Afghanistan could see that as a chance to earn their first win over them. These teams have only met at World Cups and South Africa have always taken maximum points. They beat Afghanistan at the 2019 and 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2010, 2016 and 2024 T20 World Cups.
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