Rewind the clock to ten years back, Afghanistan was never played in any of ICC event and was an associate member of cricket’s governing body. Now, in less than ten years, they are preparing to head into their second World Cup in England. Such has been their rise at the international cricket that they earner the Test status in such a short span of time.
Afghani wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad has warned every other team to wake up or Afghanistan will wake them up. Shahzad believes they are a better-prepared team than the last time they featured in the World Cup.
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Hashmatullah Shahidi also voiced the same and said Afghanistan is preparing to beat more opponents to beat at the World Cup in England and Wales. The Asian nation has a spin-bowling arsenal featuring Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Zahir Khan and Mohammad Nabi, who have been their strength in thrashing the opponents.
ICC website quoted Shahidi saying, “Now, it is not like it was before. In 2015, people said it is a proud moment that Afghanistan is a part of the World Cup. It is not the time for that. Now, it is time to say this to everyone else: ‘Wake up, Afghanistan is coming!”
Meanwhile, Shahzad added that his team has a strong lineup that is able to give a tough competition to the teams in the World Cup, starting from 30 May.
Shahzad noted, “We could beat just one team, Scotland, in the 2015 World Cup, this time we are better prepared with spinners like Mujeeb, Rashid, Nabi and Zahir Khan in our ranks. We are trying our best to perform better in the 2019 World Cup and beat four-five teams in the competition.”
Afghanistan will play in similar to English conditions just before the commencement of the World Cup. They are scheduled to play in Ireland and Scotland before the multi-nation event.
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Shahidi added, “The conditions will be tricky, but many (Afghanistan) players have been to England before and know how to play there. Our team is going to Scotland and Ireland before the World Cup and it will be good preparation for us. We are also going to England early.”
Afghanistan will play their second Test against Ireland from March 15 in Dehradun. Both teams earned Test status in August 2017 and have made their debut at the Test arena. While Ireland faced Pakistan on debut, it was India against Afghanistan in their maiden Test. Though both teams lost their debut matches, they are confident enough going into their second game.
