While they were one of the favorites in the 2018 ICC World Cup Qualifier trophy, Afghanistan under the leadership of Rashid Khan, disappointed very much in their first three Group Stage matches and now it is looking almost impossible for them to qualify for the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup.
In the group stages of the ongoing qualifiers, Afghanistan suffered defeats against Scotland, hosts Zimbabwe and Hong Kong. Against Zimbabwe, Afghanistan was very close to victory but their late batting collapse resulted in a 2-run defeat.
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19-years old stand-in Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan was really looking disappointed after losing the third straight game in this competition and this time against Hong Kong by 30 runs (D/L method). He spoke out, “It’s really touch and go. If we can gain something in the Nepal game, and then something happens between Hong Kong and Nepal anything can happen. But the way we played in the last three games, it’s not what you expect from Afghanistan. But we’ll come back positive.”
Rashid Khan mentioned the crucial stage of the match against Hong Kong as he quoted, “I think we were in the game until Nabi and Najibullah got out. But after losing Nabi, the rain came, and the match started to get away from us. Losing Nabi was crucial.”
The young talented leg-spinner believes that the wicket was good for batting during the morning. He claimed, “The wicket was good for batting in the morning, but it got difficult later on. We weren’t expecting the clouds (in the afternoon). It was bad luck for us. It suddenly came in, and totally changed the game. But we didn’t bat well.”
While Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai ruled-out from the qualifier due to an appendix surgery, their wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad has been suspended from the third and fourth group stage games of the qualifier. Rashid Khan remarks these as big losses that suffered their journey. He said, “Before the tournament, we lost the skipper. And now we lost an aggressive batsman in Shahzad. Things just weren’t going our way. It was a big loss for us, Shahzad, because you know how good he is.”
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Showing his disappointment, Rashid Khan said that these performances were not expected from them. The world-class leggie said, “You can’t expect such a performance from Afghanistan, the way we have played in the last two years. The guys played some irresponsible cricket, which wasn’t expected from them. But it happens sometimes in cricket. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. Sometimes a match doesn’t go your way. Sometimes a tournament doesn’t go your way.”
