Pakistan whitewashed Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series in Sri Lanka, reaching the top of the ICC ODI team rankings in the process. Here are five takeaways from the AFG vs PAK series.

Afghanistan’s dependence on Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran

Gurbaz and Zadran have been Afghanistan’s saviours with the bat at the top of the order. Both are just 21 years of age but have already smashed several ODI records. In the second ODI of the series, they shared their second double-century opening partnership this year.

However, the problem for Afghanistan starts after Gurbaz and Zadran. After them, the third-highest run-scorer for Afghanistan in this series was Mujeeb Ur Rahman with 68 runs, 64 off which came in an unbelievable knock in the final match.

The next highest – Mohammad Nabi with 39 runs from three innings. In fact, this has been the case for them throughout this year. Apart from Gurbaz and Zadran, no other batter has scored more than 160 runs and no one averages more than 40.

Lack of depth in seam attack – Afghanistan

Afghanistan have historically struggled with their fast bowling lineup and it was no different in this series. Fazalhaq Farooqi was the only remotely reliable seamer. He took five wickets from the three games but went for 6.64 runs per over.

Fareed Ahmad took 2-70 in the last match of the series where Pakistan scored at under 5.5 runs per over. Gulbadin Naib bowled well in the only game that he played and took 2-36, but he is in the side for his all-round abilities and would not make the team as a seamer alone.

Abdul Rahman, the only other seamer apart from Farooqi who played more than one match in the series, had a terrible campaign, picking just one wicket and conceding 7.95 runs per over. To make matters worse for Afghanistan, Azmatullah Omarzai, their seam-bowling all-rounder whom they have high hopes from,  has been ruled out of the Asia Cup with injury.

Solid depth in seam attack – Pakistan

It is no secret that Pakistan have one of the most complete first-choice seam attacks in the world. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah complement each other perfectly and they showed their class in this series.

Shaheen was the highest wicket-taker with six wickets from three games. Rauf blew Afghanistan away with his maiden ODI five-for in the first ODI, and Naseem was at his economical best, going at just 4.07 runs per over, even though he might have taken just two wickets from two games.

It’s heartening from Pakistan’s perspective to see their backup seamers come good in the third ODI when they decided to rest Rauf and Naseem. Faheem Ashraf picked up two of the most important Afghanistan wickets in the first ten overs, while Mohammad Wasim Jr bowled with control, giving away just 35 runs from his 10 overs. Barring injuries, Pakistan can sleep easy as far as their seam bowling attack is concerned heading into the Asia Cup and the World Cup.

Pakistan’s confused lower middle order

Pakistan have a problem of plenty as far as their lower middle order is concerned. While such problems are often termed good problems to have, it might not necessarily be the case in this scenario.

In the first ODI of the series, their 5-6-7-8 included Salman Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, and Usama Mir. It changed to Salman-Mir-Iftikhar-Shadab in the second, and to Saud Shakeel-Salman-Shadab-Mohammad Nawaz in the third.

While they can afford to be flexible with their all-rounders in these positions, they need to formalize a plan on how and when to use them going into the Asia Cup.

Fakhar Zaman’s form a concern

Zaman came into the Afghanistan series having been the highest run-scorer for Pakistan in ODIs this year. He was so far ahead of the others before the start of the series that, despite accumulating just 59 runs from three games, he is still at the top of the list with 579 runs at an average of 57.90 including three hundreds this year.

However, his dip in form has come at the wrong time for Pakistan. With Imam-ul-Haq batting relatively slower in terms of strike rate, Pakistan need Zaman to provide quick starts. They’ll have to hope that this is just a temporary blip and that he is back to his best at the Asia Cup.

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