Can Afghanistan Continue Dream Run, Make Semis?

England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - that's three former champions defeated by Afghanistan in the ongoing ICC Men's ODI World Cup. In a tournament that's had only a handful of exciting contests so far, Hashmatullah Shahidi and Co's performances have thrilled spectators to such an extent that the team has taken laps of honour each time it's won.

- Aditya Chaturvedi

Before the start of their campaign, Shahidi was quietly confident of his squad's ability. Afghanistan had only won three of the 11 ODIs they had played since the start of the year, but the skipper was sure it was only a matter of time before things would fall into place. "Our mindset is different now and as a leader I'm very confident this time," Shahidi had said in a press conference before Afghanistan's first game against Bangladesh.

"We'll achieve a lot and that's what our aim and target is. We'll try to not worry about what happened in the past. Again, I'll say as a leader that I'm very confident. Our team was good earlier but now, it's better. We'll try our best to give positive results and make it historic for our country's people."