After Afghanistan’s fairytale campaign in the T20 World Cup ended with a semifinal loss to South Africa on Thursday, skipper Rashid Khan expressed that the main takeaway for his team from the tournament is a “belief” and the “confidence to beat any side”. Afghanistan’s journey to the semifinals has been nothing short of extraordinary. From a team once considered underdogs, triumphed over top-ranked teams, including and multiple-time world champions Australia.
The Asian side defeated Bangaldesh in the a dramatic fashion in the Super 8 match on Tuesday to make it to their maiden semfinal of the Men’s T20 World Cup. But, Afghanistan’s dreamy run ended in the semifinal after loss to South Africa. Speaking after the match, Rashid said “It was tough, tough for us as a team.
We might have done better but the conditions didn’t allow us to do what we wanted. That’s how T20 cricket is, you need to be ready for all conditions. I think they bowled really well.
I think we got good success in this tournament because the seamers bowled really well, you need good starts.” The Afghan skipper admitted that the team greatly missed Mujeeb Ur Rahman, but he praised the performances of Mohammad Nabi and Fazalhaq Farooqi. “I think we were unlucky with Mujeeb’s injury, but our seamers and even Nabi bowled brilliantly with the new ball.
That made our job easier as spinners. We have enjoyed this tournament.” Rashid added that his team “accepted playing a semifinal and l.
