Rashid Khan: Afghan spinner Rashid Khan admitted that the decision to play India first was a collaborative tactic to uncover the opposition’s recent bat-first vulnerabilities.
Mohammad Nabi has finally decided that Afghanistan will pursue nine T20Is in 2019, countering the tendency of garbage to ask India to attack first.
The captain himself cited dew as the reason for the team’s departure from the T20 doctrine.
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Rashid Khan admitted that India’s mistake in the World Cup match between Pakistan and New Zealand was a key factor
“I think that was kind of the mindset of the players, that already the Indian team, they struggled in the first two games in the batting department, so we as a team just tried to attack in that department which they struggled, and [we thought] if we have the success we can be on a winning side,” Rashid told after the 66-run defeat at Abu Dhabi.
“But they are a professional side, and they didn’t let us get into the game. They started pretty well and they finished up really well. Once they got the control, it was pretty hard to get them less than 200. But as a team, we tried our best.”
Afghanistan may have wanted to get closer to 170 on the pretty good side, but instead was asked to chase 211 for victory.
This was too high a goal when the opening game was cheap.
Rashid reveals that the team has readjusted the chase with net run rates in mind and is milder to reduce the loss margin that could be a three-way race to the semifinals alongside New Zealand and India. I decided to take a good approach.
“Definitely, that’s the kind of thing we had in mind after losing a few wickets,” Rashid said. “As a team, we planned to go there and score as many runs as possible just to focus more on the run rate, and that might play a main role in the last game when we’re playing against New Zealand. That could be a big difference in the end.
“The message was clear, just go play smart cricket and play 20 overs and get as many as possible, so that was the kind of mindset of the players.”
‘No clarity on Mujeeb fitness’
Rashid also revealed that the team was uncertain about the physical fitness of star spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman. He was significantly absent from the match against India.
Mujeeb’s missed the last two games of his team after Sparkling 5 against Scotland. Afghanistan will face New Zealand at the same location on Sunday.
This is essential for the chances of the semi-finals, and Mujeeb’s participation remains in the air
“We don’t have any clarity about him [Mujeeb], how he is, but we hope that he is fit enough for the next game,” Rashid said. “As a player, you don’t know what’s going to happen in the next couple of days. He had a full rest since he got injured. He bowled a couple of balls, but I can’t say anything at the moment. Could be very bad, could be very good, as well. Let’s see what’s going to happen in the next couple of days and then we’re going to decide.
“The morale [in the team] is high,” Rashid said. “As long as we keep the process simple, we know which process we come up with against any side, so we will just try our best as a team to keep the same process against New Zealand in the next game and play with a fresh mind. That could be a quarterfinal for us, as well.
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