After Afghanistan’s landmark triumph over defending champions England, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi expresses his hunger for more victories in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023. It was a historic day for Afghanistan cricket as they defeated one of the tournament favourites England to register only their second win in World Cups. Sparking delirious scenes in the Afghan dugout, the men for the warrior country upset the defending champions by 69 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital on Sunday.
Shahidi credited the opening batters for laying the groundwork for their victory. The skipper hailed Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ikram Alikhil in particular, with the latter receiving great acclaim for grabbing the opportunity presented to him after a two-year wait.
“I’m quite happy, all the teammates are happy. This is the best win for us, the confidence will be there for the next game and I’m very proud. The openers get a lot of credit. They gave us a great start but unfortunately, we lost back-to-back wickets in the middle again, a lot of credit to the openers though, especially Gurbaz. Ikram was with us for the last 2 years and didn’t get a lot of chances, today I believed in him and gave him a chance and he repaid my faith,” Shahidi said in a post-match presentation.
“Last couple of games we didn’t finish well but the belief is there. This is just the first win, we are looking for more in the tournament. This was just the first one, not the last one,” he added.
For a competition designed to keep teams like them on the periphery, Afghanistan’s defeat of the defending champions was the adrenaline shot the 2023 World Cup so badly needed.
Mujeeb shone with his all-round performance with both bat and ball as he scored a quickfire 28 off 16 before leading his team’s lion-hearted bowling effort with 3 wickets. Rashid Khan bagged three wickets while Mohammad Nabi scalped two.
Shahidi praised Mujeeb’s outstanding all-round performance, which was critical to the team’s triumph, while also recognising the necessity for the team’s batting order to score more runs to help their spinners. Shahidi observed how Fazal’s first wicket provided them with great momentum.
“Mujeeb batted brilliantly, he led from the front and scored important runs for us. We have to score runs, our batting lineup needs to score more for our spinners. We have a lot of confidence in our spinners. Fazal started very well, the first wicket gave us a lot of momentum. When I was batting, I realized the wicket wasn’t supportive for batters against spinners. I told the boys that 280-290 would be enough when I got back into the dressing room. I want to say that the belief, trust and talent is there,” he added.
Afghanistan will next take on New Zealand on Wednesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
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