As another cricket rivalry between Afghanistan and Pakistan is set to set the stage on fire in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021 on Friday, October 29, Rashid Khan urged the fans of both countries to not repeat the ugly incidents of the 2019 World Cup and let it remain a game of cricket.
In their group match of the 2019 World Cup at Headingley stadium in Leeds, violent and ugly clashes broke out outside the stadium between Afghanistan and Pakistan fans. The Afghan supporters also attacked the security officials and tried to break the barricades, which was terrible to watch.
The viral footage of ugly scenes outside Leeds on social media showed fans throwing bottles at one another, while others can be seen trading punches and kicking each other after things got heated up in the match between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Ahead of the Super 12s clash between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Dubai on Friday, which is expected to see a massive crowd at the stadium as the huge expatriate population of both nations who live and work in the Gulf, Rashid requested the fans to stay calm and enjoy the match.
The Afghanistan spinner also mentioned that the game is meant to bring people closer and not to break them while saying fans shouldn’t engage in any form of the altercation as the game is meant to be enjoyed.
As reported by Times of India, Rashid said ahead of the game: “After the 2019 World Cup match, whatever happened shouldn’t have happened. But this is the kind of request to all the fans, whatever there is that comes at the end, at the end of the day this game gives lots of unity to the nations and bring them together, not to have those kinds of accidents.”
The leg-spinner continued, “Definitely it’s always a good game against Pakistan, even when we played in the 2018 Asia (Cup). And also in terms of the 2019 World Cup. But this game should remain as a game. I think it’s a request to all the fans to stay cool and calm and just enjoy the game.
This game is all about enjoyment. The more we just focus on the enjoyment, and as we have seen in this game, things happen, accidents happen. So I hope they remain cool and calm and just focus on enjoying the game and who plays better on the day that team wins.”
Meanwhile, the MCC made it mandatory for all member countries to have men's and women's teams, but since the Taliban took the power in Afghanistan, women’s cricket is uncertain in the country, but the spinner has insisted that his team isn’t focusing on the matter at the moment, as they are just trying to focus and do their best in the T20 World Cup 2021.
He said, “We have only the World Cup in mind, we're playing five games and we need to win three games. We don't think about what's happening. We don't think about what happened in the past. That is something that is not in our hands, it is not in our control. We shouldn't think about it, we don't want extra pressure on us. As a team, we're just focusing on this World Cup to get better and better.”
Afghanistan smashed 11 sixes and 13 boundaries against Scotland in Sharjah, but the 23-year-old said that hitting aggressive shots is not the team's only objective in the global tournament.
Rashid signed off by saying, “To be honest, we don't have that kind of mindset, like, you have to focus on hitting so many sixes. But you have to adjust yourself with the wicket.”
(With AFP Inputs)
