Having been named captain of Afghanistan after a disastrous World Cup campaign in UK where the national side lost all of its nine league games, leg-spinner Rashid Khan is confident of a full turnaround in fortunes.
Under Rashid, in Bangladesh recently, Afghanistan won a historic Test in Chattogram and reached the eventually washedout final of a T20I tri-series to face the hosts.
"We’ve been working hard on our shortcomings and making sincere efforts to eradicate them," Rashid was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times. "We lacked the finishing ability in the World Cup, but fought well against all teams and lost close matches. We should have won 4-5 matches there."
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In the four years leading upto this year's ODI World Cup, the talented Afghans rarely got the chance to play games against major full members, and it showed at the pinnacle event when they ran teams close but made one significant error too many to miss out on victories at the end.
"After the 2015 World Cup, we didn’t get a chance to play against teams like Australia, New Zealand, England, etc., so understanding them was difficult. We are hopeful we can come good at the next World Cup after having a good experience of playing against big teams over the next four years," Rashid said.
Apart from being a limited-overs team on the rise, Afghanistan is also among the two newest Test playing nations, including Ireland, and have made a very good start in the longest format of the game; winning two of its three games so far.
"My boys were good against Bangladesh in the Test last time," Rashid said. "We are natural power-hitters, so smashing sixes in 50-over and T20 cricket isn’t a problem for us. Test cricket requires so much patience and I need my boys to mature in that format also."
Rashid's men will now be hosting West Indies for three T20Is, as many ODIs and a historic standalone Test in Lucknow in November before the preparations for next year's Asia Cup T20 as well as the T20 World Cup in Australia will start.
"Right now we are focused on the Asia Cup and this series provides a perfect opportunity to get ready for that. Playing against West Indies will help prepare well for the next T20 World Cup," said the captain, who is coming to terms with the pressure of leading his nation at the highest level.
"It’s not at all pressure. I enjoy my cricket in all formats. When I go to bat, I play like a batsman without having pressure, and don’t feel any pressure even when I bowl."
"Pressure is a mental thing. Captaincy becomes a pressure only when you start thinking about the results. One should be focused on his game. If everyone thinks like that, things become easier," Rashid said.
(Inputs from HT)
