Rashid upbeat about team’s showing in T20 WC

KABUL (Pajhwok) Afghanistan skipper and spin sensation Rashid Khan is fully confident his team will fare well in the T20 World Cup 2024.

Speaking to a press conference in the West Indies, Khan promised Afghanistan would do all they could to reach the semi-final of the tournament.

On the eve of Afghanistan’s match against Uganda in Guyana, Khan said one positive sign was that people were saying his side was capable of reaching the semies.

Afghanistan are placed alongside co-hosts West Indies, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Uganda in Group C of the T20 World Cup.

Afghanistan have never entered the knockouts of the T20 World Cup, where they have been present since 2010.

“The confidence is there because we have already beaten West Indies a few times in T20s. We beat them in ODIs as well.

“And, more importantly, there are seven to eight guys playing in the IPL, which is the best preparation ahead of the World Cup.”

He believed conditions in the World Cup could be good for spinners. Even if wickets were flat, he said, the Afghans did not rely much on the tracks.

“We have a fair few mystery spinner who make it harder for the batter to score freely,.” Khan commented.

The leggie observed “The most important thing is: how we are going there mentally. Do we have that kind of belief where we can beat New Zealand? Do we have that kind of belief where we can beat West Indies? As soon as that belief comes, you can beat any side.

“That's the kind of belief we had in the ODI World Cup last year in India. Since we beat England, we said we can beat any side,” ESPN Cricinfo quoted him as saying.

Like him, (Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Noor Ahmad, too, had bowled on the wickets in the Caribbean, where they had found enough spin and were well-versed with the conditions, the spin maestro noted.

.“If we can exercise a bit of calmness, that's something that can have a massive impact on the game. If we [over]think that we are playing against New Zealand, West Indies… that's going to affect us. But if you instead think that you are just playing a normal game against anybody, that's where we can deliver the best individually and for the team.

“It is about ensuring we enjoy; we express our talent and the skills we have. We need to make sure we stick to our strong points, that's how we can be most successful. And to not think about the opposition much, whoever they are. As long as we think about ourselves, what we can do best for the team, that's going to be the challenge for us.

“We have to beat the teams with our own skills. We can't beat teams the way India do, how Australia do. We have our own way, our own style of playing the game. As long as we play our own style of the game, I think we can beat any side,” Khan concluded.

sa/mud