Afghanistan's premier leg-spinner Rashid Khan has denied that his team’s 66-run loss to India will have an impact on the team's momentum going into the last game against New Zealand on November 7 in Abu Dhabi in the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.
On Wednesday, November 3, Afghanistan suffered a huge defeat of 66 runs against Team India in their second last game of the Super 12s of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 in Abu Dhabi.
However, Afghanistan is currently sitting in the second spot with 4 points and a net-run rate of +1.481 in the Group 2 table, but now they have to beat New Zealand by a comprehensive margin in order to progress to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2021.
On the other hand, Black Caps have a great chance to jump to the second spot by thrashing Namibia on Friday (November 5) with a positive net run rate.
Given that New Zealand has already 4 points and 2 remaining games, Afghanistan must beat the Kiwis by a heavy margin to qualify for the semi-finals, and Rashid admitted that Sunday’s game will be a virtual quarterfinal for Afghanistan in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2021.
Rashid said at the post-match press conference, “I don't think it's going to make a big difference to us as a team. We know India is one of the best teams, but still, the preparation remains the same, the mindset remains the same and we know the process.”
He added, “New Zealand match could be a quarterfinal for us, as well. If we win, we know we have a good run rate so we could be the team to be in the semi-finals. So just to go out there, enjoy your skills, enjoy your cricket. As long as you are enjoying, I think there are more chances you could perform.”
On being asked if Afghanistan was thinking about their net run rate after they lost wickets early against India, the 23-year-old spinner said: “Definitely, that's the kind of thing we had in mind after losing a few wickets. As a team, we planned to go there and score as many runs as possible.”
Rashid signed off by saying, “Just to focus more on the run rate, and that might play a main role in the last game when we're playing against New Zealand. That could be a big difference in the end. Yeah, the message was clear, just go play smart cricket and play 20 overs and get as many as possible, so that was the mindset of the players.”
(With PTI Inputs)
