Having admirably led his side across the last few very successful years, Afghanistan Captain Asghar Afghan is hoping that his team will continue the good work during the upcoming edition of Asia Cup in UAE.
It is one of the greatest sporting novels, Afghanistan's rise in world cricket.
The war-torn country played it's first ODI in 2009 against Scotland and now, less than a decade later, they are among top ten limited overs nations which them reaching the 10-team ICC Cricket World Cup in England next year perfectly reflects.
In this Asia Cup, the newest subcontinent giants are placed in a tough group alongside Sri Lanka and Bangladesh but their leader Asghar isn't perturbed by the enormity of it, instead, he sees it as a great opportunity.
"We are not here just to play but to perform." Asghar reiterated on ANI at the captains' press conference on Friday, September 14 and said, "Our players have got enough experience playing big international matches. They have performed well in leading cricket leagues so we are hopeful of doing well in this tournament as well."
"Sri Lanka is an experienced side. We have had some good matches against them, be it in World Cup, T20 format or one-day matches. We are confident that we can perform well against them," he added.
Though other teams are there to give their best, there is definitely more attention on the India-Pakistan clash scheduled on September 19. The likes of Asghar and other captains aren't immune to the narrative.
Asghar infact went on to give his opinion on the arch-rivalry encounter and said, "India-Pakistan clash will be the best match of the tournament as whenever these two nations go against each other, people from around the world show interest, Moreover, the cricketing tussle between India and Pakistan is of another level."
"Both the teams have got good combination as well. While India are coming after competing in tough England conditions, Sarfraz Ahmed-led Pakistani side is also doing very well," he added.
While they open their campaign against Sri Lanka on September 17, Afghanistan also faces off Bangladesh on September 20.
