Afghanistan pacer Hamid Hassan is confident that they can beat India if the batters put their hands and post a big total on the board when they face Men in Blue on Wednesday, November 3, in Abu Dhabi, in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.
Currently, Afghanistan is on the 2nd spot in Group 2 with four points, while India is yet to open account in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021, suffering back-to-back losses to Pakistan and New Zealand.
Hassan said at the pre-match press conference, “We have a good opportunity against India. If we put up good runs on the board, we can defeat them by bowling and fielding (well).”
Read Also: T20 World Cup 2021: Sharafuddin Ashraf approved as replacement for retired Asghar Afghan
On being asked how big it is an opportunity for him to get early breakthroughs against a struggling Indian top-order, the right-arm pacer said: “It (will) depend on the wicket, how it behaves; we will see how it goes and work on our plans, what we have got and we will see. You cannot say anything before the game. But we will try our best to give our 100% in the game, be it spinners or fast bowlers.”
However, Hassan admitted that Afghanistan is focusing on taking it one game at a time; but his team’s aim is to make the semi-finals of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.
The 34-year-old speedster said, “Honestly, we are focusing on the game one by one (each game). But the plan is to qualify for the semi-finals. Afghanistan is a very good side, you see batting, bowling and fielding has improved a lot. We have some of the best spinners in the world (Mohammed) Nabi, Rashid (Khan) and Mujeeb (Ur Rahman). Now it's a proper, complete squad.”
He signed off by saying, “If you see our top-order, sometimes they click, sometimes they struggle, but the good sign is the middle order is getting runs, especially the skipper (Nabi). The good news is that we haven't (lost) all of the wickets so far and just five or six batsmen (have) got out, but we bat till number nine and most of the batters can can hit and even Rashid (Khan) hasn't batted yet.”
(With PTI Inputs)
