GEORGETOWN (Guyana): Captain Rashid Khan on Monday expressed that Afghanistan's batsmen have developed the skill and confidence to chase big targets and the team has stopped relying on its bowlers to produce favorable results.
Afghanistan, which has often relied on its world-class spinners, has been strengthened by the emergence of the explosive Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai.
"That's a thing of the past. We were struggling a bit in the batting area. Earlier, the bowlers used to do a lot and help us win the game," Rashid said on the eve of Afghanistan's T20 World Cup opening match against Uganda here. Used to do.,
“Later, we got those youngsters – especially from the under-19s – the way they came into the national team, the way they worked hard and got the opportunity to play for Afghanistan at a very young age, and then started to discover everything Did (while) playing leagues around the world, where he got better and better,'' he said.
Rashid believes that with a combination of talent, skill and the right mindset, anything is possible. "We have the kind of batting line-up where we can say, 'Even if it's 200 on the wicket, it's OK'," he said.
“We have that kind of ability, skill and talent where we can express everything on the field and achieve goals. T20 cricket is all about mentality.As long as you have the right mindset and belief that we can do it, anything is possible."
Afghanistan had their best performance in the ODI World Cup in India last year when they defeated former champions Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka, while defeating eventual champions Australia.
“We're just focusing on one game at a time and making sure we do the right things and make the right decisions at the right time. I think that's something that will help us, and (we) need to Don't need to think too much about the next round, that's something that as a player I feel is an added pressure.
With slow pitches expected in the West Indies, many have picked Afghanistan to reach the semi-finals given their arsenal of top-class spinners.Rashid is happy that Afghanistan is no longer considered small.
"He mentioned that Afghanistan is going to reach the semi-finals. We take it as a very positive sign. Earlier, it used to be difficult for us to qualify. Now, to be (in the nominations), to be on top is to be fourth. , this is big for us.But for us, we don't pay much attention to things like how we will perform on the field.
"Even in the last World Cup, we were very close to reaching the semi-finals (which we wanted)," he said.
Many Afghans play in the Caribbean Premier League and have an idea of what the pitches will be like, but Rashid sees it differently.
“We have players who recently played here in the CPL, they have that experience. We share that experience with the boys.But I think in ICC (events), you always expect something different."
"You never know what the behavior of the wicket is going to be. You have to react to that. You shouldn't be someone who already has a mindset that it's going to be like this (or) it's going to be like this, it's going to swing, it's going to rotate. , Such things will happen but for us, it is like we are well prepared."
Afghanistan, which has often relied on its world-class spinners, has been strengthened by the emergence of the explosive Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai.
"That's a thing of the past. We were struggling a bit in the batting area. Earlier, the bowlers used to do a lot and help us win the game," Rashid said on the eve of Afghanistan's T20 World Cup opening match against Uganda here. Used to do.,
“Later, we got those youngsters – especially from the under-19s – the way they came into the national team, the way they worked hard and got the opportunity to play for Afghanistan at a very young age, and then started to discover everything Did (while) playing leagues around the world, where he got better and better,'' he said.
Rashid believes that with a combination of talent, skill and the right mindset, anything is possible. "We have the kind of batting line-up where we can say, 'Even if it's 200 on the wicket, it's OK'," he said.
“We have that kind of ability, skill and talent where we can express everything on the field and achieve goals. T20 cricket is all about mentality.As long as you have the right mindset and belief that we can do it, anything is possible."
Afghanistan had their best performance in the ODI World Cup in India last year when they defeated former champions Pakistan, England and Sri Lanka, while defeating eventual champions Australia.
“We're just focusing on one game at a time and making sure we do the right things and make the right decisions at the right time. I think that's something that will help us, and (we) need to Don't need to think too much about the next round, that's something that as a player I feel is an added pressure.
With slow pitches expected in the West Indies, many have picked Afghanistan to reach the semi-finals given their arsenal of top-class spinners.Rashid is happy that Afghanistan is no longer considered small.
"He mentioned that Afghanistan is going to reach the semi-finals. We take it as a very positive sign. Earlier, it used to be difficult for us to qualify. Now, to be (in the nominations), to be on top is to be fourth. , this is big for us.But for us, we don't pay much attention to things like how we will perform on the field.
"Even in the last World Cup, we were very close to reaching the semi-finals (which we wanted)," he said.
Many Afghans play in the Caribbean Premier League and have an idea of what the pitches will be like, but Rashid sees it differently.
“We have players who recently played here in the CPL, they have that experience. We share that experience with the boys.But I think in ICC (events), you always expect something different."
"You never know what the behavior of the wicket is going to be. You have to react to that. You shouldn't be someone who already has a mindset that it's going to be like this (or) it's going to be like this, it's going to swing, it's going to rotate. , Such things will happen but for us, it is like we are well prepared."
