(AP Photo)
Rashid Khan reflected on Afghanistan’s historic qualification for the T20 World Cup semi-finals after defeating Bangladesh by eight runs in a rain-affected final Super 8 match at Arnos Vale Stadium in St Vincent, during the post-match presentation.
Rashid Khan said: “It’s something like a dream for us as a team being in the semifinal. It’s all about the way we have started the tournament. The belief came while we beat New Zealand. It’s unbelievable, I don’t have any words to describe my feelings. Back home, everyone is so happy for this big achievement.”
“The only guy who put us in the semifinal was Brian Lara and we proved that right. Before the competition at the welcome party, I told him, ‘We won’t let you down. We’ll make it through and prove you’re right.’ I am proud of this team,” Rashid added.
In a crucial match marred by rain delays, Afghanistan posted 115 runs for 5 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. They later restricted Bangladesh to 105 all out in 17.5 overs. The game, originally set for 20 overs each side, was shortened to 19 overs due to rain, with Bangladesh chasing a revised target of 114 runs for victory.
“We thought 130-135 was a good total on this wicket. We were 15-20 runs short. It was all about the mindset. We knew they would come hard at us to chase that in 12 overs to get into the semifinal. That’s where we could take advantage. If we bowled into the stumps, we had a better chance to getting them out. We didn’t have to do anything extra. We just had to be clear with our plans. We put in the effort, that’s in our hands. Rain, result is not in our hands. That 100% effort is always in our hands. Everyone did a wonderful job,” Rashid said.
“In T20s, we have a strong base, especially in bowling. The quality of fast bowling we have got, it’s not as fast but they are more skillful. In T20s, if you have skills, you are more effective. They have given great starts in this World Cup competition so far and it becomes easy for us (spinners) in the middle where we can go hard at the batsmen. So happy the way they have delivered. They were very clear with their mind, that’s very pleasing. Rain was on and off, but mentally we were always there. We had to play 20 overs and we had to take 10 wickets, that’s the only way to get to the semifinal, there’s no other way,” he said.
“Gulbadin had some cramps I think, hopefully he’ll be alright. That wicket he took was massive for us,” Rashdi said in reference to the Afghanistan all-rounder’s feined injury.
