'Afghanistan unlucky...': On the edge of elimination, Rashid Khan delivers powerful message

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan admitted his team were unfortunate to be facing an early exit from the T20 World Cup and underlined the need for smaller nations to play more frequently against top sides to make global tournaments more competitive.

After going down by five wickets to New Zealand national cricket team in their opener, Afghanistan then suffered a crushing defeat to South Africa national cricket team after two Super Overs, leaving them fourth in Group D and on the verge of elimination.

"I don't think much has gone wrong. We played good cricket and were a little unlucky. You saw the last match, we were very close, we were in the 2nd super over. I think it shows that we put in the effort," Rashid told reporters.

Call for more games against top teams

"You have seen all the games one-sided. I think that's something which, as a team, if you don't get a chance to play against a big team, that's what happens.

"If we played more T20s against South Africa, New Zealand, we would have had an idea of where this team can beat us and where we can do better. If you play with them once a year, and that too in a World Cup event. And that is such a time where you have no choice of making a mistake."

Rashid said the absence of regular bilateral series against leading teams makes World Cup clashes extremely high-pressure for sides like Afghanistan.

"If you play two matches in four days against New Zealand and South Africa, then your World Cup can end in four days, like it happened with us. We lost both the matches in four days; we are out of the World Cup mostly. So, this pressure is different. You have to be mentally and physically ready. If you make a small mistake, you're out of the competition.

"If you play with them, you'll get an idea. If you don't play, then they’ll come with new planning every time.. like we saw with New Zealand, they came with aggressive mindset...I think the more we play against them we’re going to get better, not only in the World Cup, but bilateral series as well."

Focus shifts to UAE clash

Afghanistan will next face the United Arab Emirates national cricket team on Monday, and Rashid stressed that his side must deliver their best to remain in contention.

"Whenever you play a World Cup match, you always put in the effort. Because the World Cup win is a big thing," he said.

"We played against them a lot, we played bilateral series in UAE, the boys have also played in ILT, so you never think that we will easily defeat UAE because we have played two super overs against South Africa.

"If two batters or two bowlers play a good spell in T20, you are gone. You don't get time to come back to the game ... so we have to bring our best plan, our A plan, and we have to get down to the ground with full effort...we will try to perform well and we will go with full effort."

Lessons from heartbreaks past and present

Reflecting on the narrow defeat against South Africa, Rashid said: "It is quite disappointing. Last one and a half year, we worked hard for this to get the result of all side, one of the game, first two games. And sometimes it doesn't go your way. And most important thing is like with what mindset we played and the effort we put.

"It's going to help us. It's not only the upcoming games, but upcoming cricket we have. So there are lots of positives we can take from those two games, but still you don't know anything can happen, the other day Zimbabwe beat Australia, so yeah, let's see if we get a little bit chance, but more importantly, if last two games, we have to put all the effort there."

Afghanistan had endured a similar heartbreak against Australia national cricket team in the 2023 World Cup, when they reduced the opposition to 91/7 before Glenn Maxwell’s unbeaten 201 turned the game around. They later avenged that defeat in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

"It's very hard to lose that game where we had it in our hand a couple of the time and then it just slips off your hand. It doesn't go away from your mind. Like, the game we played against Australia in 2023 World Cup, it never goes out of the mind, until we won against them in the 24 World Cup..."

(With PTI Inputs)