'Afghanistan Won't Gain Experience Till They Play Against Big Teams Consistently': Asghar Afghan To NDTV

16.09.2022 - 04:51 sports.ndtv.com

Afghanistan failed to make it to the final of the recently-concluded Asia Cup but the performance of the Mohammad Nabi-led side impressed one and all.

They started off with wins against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in the group stage, but defeats against Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India in the Super 4 stage led to their ouster.

In an interview with NDTV, former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan spoke about how more game time against the top teams will help the side in easing out their nerves in pressure situations.

He also spoke about the rivalry that has developed between Pakistan and Afghanistan, how Mujeeb Ur Rahman has managed to cement his place in the side and how Afghanistan needs to learn to take the game deep against big teams. "No doubt, the performance of Afghanistan in the Asia Cup was very good.

cricket Pakistan Cricket Team Asia Cup Rashid Khan India Sri Lanka Afghanistan Bangladesh Pakistan

Afghanistan on Thursday named their 15-member squad for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022, which begins in Australia on October 16. Mohammad Nabi, who led Afghanistan in the recently concluded Asia Cup 2022, takes up the captaincy reins again. Afghanistan will square off against England in their opening campaign at Perth on October 22. Of the 17 players who were part of the Afghanistan Squad for the recently held Asia Cup 2022, Samiullah Shinwari, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Afsar Zazai, Karim Janat and Noor Ahmad have missed out, whereas the middle-order batter Darwish Rasooli, the leg-spinning all-rounder Qais Ahmad and the right-arm quick Salim Safi have made it to the 15-member cut.

"T20 Cricket Needs To Explore...": Ex-India Batter On Toss Playing Crucial Role in Asia Cup

The Asia Cup final will be played between Pakistan and Sri Lanka on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium. India who were being touted as the favourites failed to make it to the final after winning just one game out of three while Afghanistan lost all of their Super 4 matches. However, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has now highlighted how toss played a big role in the tournament. He also highlighted that India lost tosses in their three Super 4 games while Afghanistan lost two.

'Ban' Asif Ali From Asia Cup: Ex-Afghanistan Captain on Pakistan Cricketer's Spat With Fareed Ahmed Malik

The Afghanistan-Pakistan Super 4 match at the Asia Cup on Wednesday was a closely fought one with the latter prevailing in the last over of a 130-run chase. Courtesy the win, Pakistan set up a final clash with Sri Lanka on Sunday. However, the match between the Babar Azam-led Pakistan and the Mohammad Nabi-led Afghanistan was also witness to some untoward incident between Asif Ali and Fareed Ahmed Malik. It happened in the 19th over after Pakistan batter Ali was dismissed by Malik.

Asia Cup: Afghanistan Coach Condemns Behaviour Of Fans, Says Sports Should Be Treated As Sports

Afghanistan assistant coach has condemned the clash between Afghanistan and Pakistan fans after the team's defeat on Wednesday while addressing a press conference. Raees Ahmadzai expressed his disappointment over the behaviour of his players and the fans after the team's defeat against Pakistan in a last-over thriller. Speaking to the reporters, the coach also shed light on the team's learnings from the tournament. He appreciated the team for their performance in the Asia Cup and mentioned that they would apply the learnings in the next tournament they play.

Asia Cup, India vs Afghanistan Highlights: Virat Kohli’s first international ton in nearly 3 years lights up dead-rubber win over Afghanistan

Virat Kohli has got an international hundred on Thursday night. The wait for his 71st international hundred ended when he disdainfully smacked Afghanistan’s Fareed Ahmad over the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his first T20I century off just 53 balls. As he took off his helmet, raised his bat to the smattering of crowd in the stadium and kissed his wedding ring in his necklace, Kohli’s gentle smile screamed of the relief he must have felt. Probably, he would have least expected to bring up his 71st century in the shortest format while opening the innings with regular skipper Rohit Sharma opting to rest in the inconsequential match. As It HappenedOnly an event as special as this could have injected some interest in the match. His innings of unbeaten 122 off 61 balls (with 12 fours and six sixes), which had one blemish when he was dropped on 28 by Ibrahim Zadran at deep mid-wicket off captain Mohammad Nabi, helped India post a mammoth total of 212/2.

Watch: Virat Kohli Smashes Elusive 71st Century With Six In Asia Cup Match vs Afghanistan

Virat Kohli hit his first international century since November 2019 with his maiden T20 ton for India as his side piled up 212-2 against Afghanistan at the Asia Cup on Thursday. The star batsman stood unbeaten on 122 off 61 deliveries with 12 fours and six sixes in Dubai after India were put in to bat in their last Super Four contest after being eliminated from the tournament. Kohli, 33, hit a four and a six off pace bowler Fareed Ahmad to reach his first India ton in nearly three years -- his last hundred coming in a Test against Bangladesh.