Sport
Rashid promises Afghanistan will bounce back from England defeat
Star spinner Rashid Khan said Afghanistan would bounce back from their opening loss to England at the Twenty20 World Cup in Perth on Saturday after having shown “promising talent” in the five-wicket defeat.
England bowled out Afghanistan for a paltry 112 but the Afghan spin force led by Rashid dragged the opposition chase to the 19th over by taking five wickets.
“First game for the guys. A different environment for all the youngsters in the team. First time playing in Australia and the conditions, facing the bowlers with speeds of 150 plus, so a great learning for them,” the leg-spinner told AFP.
“But definitely we will come back. Some promising talent is there. We are going to be much improved in the upcoming games. Batting is the area we need to work on.”
Afghanistan will next play New Zealand on Wednesday in Melbourne.
Afghanistan’s batting fell flat with left-arm quick bowler Sam Curran becoming the first England bowler to take five wickets in a Twenty20 international.
Ben Stokes and Mark Wood, whose express pace exceeded 150kph at times, took two wickets each as Afghanistan were all out in 19.4 overs.
Rashid returned impressive figures of 1-17 in his four overs and was ably supported by fellow spinners Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman as they looked to restrict England, one of the tournament favorites.
Mujeeb got Dawid Malan with his mystery spin and off-spinner Nabi bowled Stokes for two before Liam Livingstone took England home with an unbeaten 29 off 21 balls.
“The way we bowled it showed anything between 150-160 will be a good total for us,” Rashid said.
Afghanistan played two left-arm quick bowlers Fazalhaq Farooqui and Fareed Ahmed, but they rely on spin to win matches.
Rashid said he, Mujeeb and Nabi, would be able to benefit from their experience of playing in Australia’s Big Bash League.
“It’s just about the conditions you adjust yourself to. You understand what is the right length and right area to ball on that wicket,” said Rashid.
“We have five to six years of experience in the Big Bash. So we have that in the mind and need to keep it simple.”
Afghanistan stunned Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the Asia Cup T20 tournament in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year.
They missed out on the final spot after losing a last-over thriller to Pakistan and Rashid said Afghanistan could beat anyone on their day.
“You don’t know with T20, what’s going to happen to any team. It’s not like someone is strong, someone is very weak. you have seen in the qualifiers that West Indies were knocked out,” said Rashid.
“Anything can happen, it’s just about having the positive mindset and having the self-belief that yes we are capable of beating any side.”
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan says his team’s dramatic Super Over loss to South Africa in Ahmedabad has reopened memories of their painful defeat to Australia at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023—a result he admits “never goes out of the mind.”
Rashid, speaking in Delhi ahead of Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup 2026 match against UAE, said the team tried to unwind after the nail-biting defeat by ordering Peshawari food late at night, Espncricinfo reported.
”We were in Ahmedabad and we told the manager to order food. Peshawari food: their dal bukhara, dal makhani, I told him to order that and bring some tandoori chicken so that we can vent our anger on that,” Rashid said.
“No one should say that he did this or he did that because it brings negativity in the team,” he said. “No one has lost, just our team has lost. We put in a lot of effort, but we never blame any player for being in a Super Over. I always tell everyone that as a captain I don’t want to hear any of these things. It disappoints me more than the game when you’re blaming the players. We all put in the effort.”
Rashid admitted the loss has been difficult to shake.
“To be honest, it’s pretty hard,” he said. “It’s very, very hard to lose that game where we had it in our hand a couple of times and then it just slips off your hand and it disappoints you. It doesn’t go away from your mind. Like, the game we played against Australia in the 2023 World Cup at Wankhede, it never goes out of the mind, until we won against them in the 2024 World Cup. And then slowly it got out of the mind.”
He recalled gathering the team that night in Mumbai for a late dinner and a message of unity. “We had a good dinner and just talked positively, just to keep supporting each other. I feel like this is so important.”
Rashid said maintaining performance levels despite setbacks is part of the challenge. “It is quite challenging, I feel like out of 100 times, if you got the success 99 times, the one time you don’t get it, people will talk about that one time, and they forget (the good results) and that’s something which is more challenging.”
A reporter’s suggestion that he visit Lajpat Nagar for Afghan food brought a final smile. “Before, we used to go when we weren’t very famous,” Rashid joked. “Now it’s a bit difficult.”
Afghanistan national cricket team kept their T20 World Cup 2026 hopes alive with a hard-fought five-wicket victory over the United Arab Emirates national cricket team in Delhi on Monday, chasing down 161 with four balls to spare.
Batting first, UAE posted 160 for 9, anchored by an impressive 68 from Sohaib Khan, whose counterattacking innings held the innings together. Alishan Sharafu added a valuable 40, helping UAE recover from early setbacks. For Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Azmatullah Omarzai claimed two wickets each, while disciplined spells from the rest of the attack kept the total within reach.
Afghanistan’s chase began poorly as Rahmanullah Gurbaz departed for a duck, but Ibrahim Zadran steadied the innings with a composed 53 off 41 balls. Darwish Rasooli’s 33 ensured the target remained manageable before Omarzai delivered the decisive blow.
Completing a standout all-round performance, Azmatullah Omarzai smashed an unbeaten 40 off 21 deliveries, guiding Afghanistan to 162 for 5 and sealing a much-needed victory. Mohammad Nabi supported him at the other end as Afghanistan crossed the line comfortably in the end.
The win puts Afghanistan on two points—still facing long odds of reaching the Super Eights. To go through, they now depend on a combination of favourable results elsewhere in the group. But for the moment, the team has kept its World Cup campaign alive, doing just enough under pressure in Delhi to remain in contention.
Afghanistan will face Canada in their next game on Thursday.
Sport
Afghanistan face UAE in must-win T20 World Cup clash
The UAE, meanwhile, will be aiming to capitalize on the opportunity and strengthen their position in the group.
Afghanistan will take on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) today, Monday February 16, in a crucial group-stage match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
The match is scheduled to begin at 10:00am local time at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
Afghanistan head into the contest under pressure after suffering defeats against New Zealand and South Africa in their opening two group-stage matches, leaving them in urgent need of a win to keep their qualification hopes alive.
The UAE, meanwhile, will be aiming to capitalize on the opportunity and strengthen their position in the group.
The encounter is seen as a key test for Afghanistan, who are known for their strength in the shortest format of the game, particularly through their spin attack and aggressive batting – and victory would certainly revive their World Cup campaign.
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