An in-depth look at the World Cup contenders ahead of the showpiece quadrennial event
World Cup preview: Afghanistan
The squad: Gulbadain Naib (c), Aftab Alam, Dawlat Zadran, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ali Zadran, Rashid Khan, Asghar Afghan, Hamid Hassan, Hazrat Zazai, Mohammad Shahzad, Najibullah Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Samiullah Shinwari.
Who they are missing: Ikram Ali Khil, Karim Janat and Sayed Shirzad missed selection but have been named as Afghanistan's reserve players, while Zahir Khan, Shapoor Zadran, Fareed Ahmed and Javed Ahmadi, who were part of Afghanistan's most recent ODI squad that faced Ireland in India, were not selected.
Form line: (most recent first) LWNrLWLNrWTL
The 2015 result: Group stage
Best finish: Group stage (2015)
The big question: Can Afghanistan take a big scalp at the World Cup? In only their second 50-over World Cup and in the alien conditions of the UK, Afghanistan have an uphill battle to make it to the semi-finals but are certain to give everything they've got. They picked up one win in the 2015 World Cup – a thrilling one-wicket victory over Scotland in Dunedin – but have the firepower and growing experience to cause a major upset this winter. Afghanistan have recorded wins against the West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the past, so they would feel confident taking out one of that trio. Their surplus of spinners could give Australia headaches in their opening fixture, and if confronted with a traditional turning wicket in Manchester Afghanistan might fancy themselves to score the biggest upset of them all with a win over tournament hosts England.
Player to watch: While a majority of Afghanistan's squad is unheralded, leg-spinner Rashid Khan is a bona fide superstar. The 20-year-old has been a phenomenon since his international debut in 2015 against Zimbabwe and has gone on to dominate domestic T20 competitions around the world. In the one-day format he's been exceptional. Armed with a deceptive, venomous wrong'un, Rashid has taken 123 wickets in just 57 games at a ridiculous average of 15. In March last year, Rashid became the fastest men's bowler to 100 ODI wickets, achieving the feat in just 44 matches, eight faster than the previous record of 52 held by Australia's pace ace Mitch Starc. If Afghanistan are to spring a surprise in the World Cup it will be off the back of Rashid's magic.
Image Id: 510B0D14AF2343249DE8B075C8A24379 Image Caption: Incredible scenes in 2015 // Getty
Don't be surprised if: Afghanistan produce the highlight of the tournament like they did in 2015. While the individual heroics of Starc, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Kumar Sangakkara four years ago are etched into World Cup folklore, Afghanistan's emotional win over Scotland was the moment of the quadrennial event. The expectation on Afghanistan, now a full member nation, has significantly increased since the 2015 tournament but if they were to pull off a win against a major team (and if it was India there would be no debate) they would probably steal the show in the UK.
World Cup numbers
Team record: Matches: 6 | Won: 1 | Lost: 5
Highest total: 232 v Sri Lanka, Dunedin 2015
Lowest total: 7-111 v England, Sydney 2015
Most runs: Samiullah Shinwari with 254 runs at 42.33 in six matches and a high score of 96 versus Scotland in Dunedin 2015.
Most wickets: Shapoor Zadran with 10 wickets at 26.50 in six matches, an economy rate of 5.19 and best bowling performance of 4-38 against Scotland in Dunedin 2015.
Most dismissals: Gloveman Afsar Zazai has seven catches in six matches in the 2015 tournament
The fixtures:
June 1 v Australia, Bristol, 10.30pm AEDT
June 4 v Sri Lanka, Cardiff, 7.30pm AEDT
June 8 v New Zealand, Taunton, 10.30pm AEDT
June 15 v South Africa, Cardiff 10.30pm AEDT
June 18 v England, Manchester, 7.30pm AEDT
June 22 v India, Southampton, 7.30pm AEDT
June 24 v Bangladesh, Southampton, 7.30pm AEDT
June 29 v Pakistan, Leeds, 7.30pm AEDT
July 4: West Indies, Leeds, 7.30pm AEDT
2019 World Cup
Australia's squad: Aaron Finch (c), Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa
May 22: (warm-up) Australia v West Indies, Southampton
May 25: (warm-up) England v Australia, Southampton
May 27: (warm-up) Australia v Sri Lanka, Southampton
June 1: Afghanistan v Australia, Bristol (D/N)
June 6: Australia v West Indies, Trent Bridge
June 9: India v Australia, The Oval
June 12: Australia v Pakistan, Taunton
June 15: Sri Lanka v Australia, The Oval
June 20: Australia v Bangladesh, Trent Bridge
June 25: England v Australia, Lord's
June 29: New Zealand v Australia, Lord's (D/N)
July 6: Australia v South Africa, Old Trafford (D/N)
July 9: Semi-Final 1, Old Trafford
July 11: Semi-Final 2, Edgbaston
July 14: Final, Lord's
For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE