ICC World Cup Factbox: How Afghanistan have fared in quadrennial showpiece event over the years

Over the last decade or so, Afghanistan have gradually developed themselves as a cricketing powerhouse in the limited-overs formats.They have reputed names, like Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Rahmanullah Gurbaz to name a few, but the Afghans have failed to qualify past the group stage in their only two appearances in ODI World Cups — 2015 and 2019.So, how did they do in the group stages of both editions? Let’s take a lookTitles: 0World Cup recap: In the first two decades since the inaugural edition of the World Cup in 1975, Afghanistan were never even in the picture since they were not members of the International Cricket Council (ICC).Despite cricket being a popular sport in the country during the 1990s and 2000s, it was only in 2008 when Afghanistan were in Division Five of the World Cricket League. However, they would go onto climb up the ladder, gaining status as a Full Associate Member in 2013.Two years later, Afghanistan would make their ODI World Cup debut, in Australia and New Zealand. They were drawn in a tough group, consisting of England, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Scotland.Their only win of the tournament would come against Scotland in Dunedin, where Samiullah Shinwari starred with a knock of 96 to help his team chase down 211 with just one wicket to spare.Fast forward four years, in 2019 in England, Afghanistan would establish themselves as a well-balanced unit with a strong core team.They had Gulbadin Naib captain the side, while Rashid, Mohammad Nabi, Asghar Afghan and Hazratullah Zazai were a few stars to keep an eye on.Yet, there was nothing much for Afghans to smile about throughout the tournament, after they finished rock-bottom of the 10-team table without any wins, despite putting up a fight against India and Pakistan.Come the 2023 World Cup, Afghanistan would hope to forget the ghosts of their last two World Cup campaigns and start from scratch, with a fresh mindset.Edition-wise performances1975: Did not participate1979: Did not participate1983: Did not participate1987: Did not participate1992: Did not participate1996: Did not participate1999: Did not participate2003: Did not participate2007: Did not qualify2011: Did not qualify2015: Group stage2019: Group stageWorld Cup record: Matches: 15; Wins: 1; Losses: 14; No Result: 0; Tied: 0Team recordsHighest total: 288 vs West Indies in Leeds, 2019Lowest total: 111/7 vs England in Sydney, 2015Individual recordsMost runs: Rahmat Shah (3,269 runs)Most wickets: Rashid Khan (172 wickets)Highest individual score: Samiullah Shinwari (96 vs Scotland in Dunedin, 2015)Best bowling figures: Mohammad Nabi (4/30 vs Sri Lanka in Cardiff, 2019)Most catches: Mohammad Nabi (8 catches)ICC ODI ranking: 9Schedule7 October: vs Bangladesh in Dharamsala11 October: vs India in New Delhi15 October: vs England in New Delhi18 October: vs New Zealand in Chennai23 October: vs Pakistan in Chennai30 October: vs Sri Lanka in Pune3 November: vs Netherlands in Lucknow7 November: vs Australia in Mumbai10 November: vs South Africa in AhmedabadWorld Cup squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq.