New Zealand spinner Ish Sodhi said that the Black Caps are "very aware of the threat that Afghanistan bring" ahead of their must-win final group game of the ongoing ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 on Sunday, November 7, in Abu Dhabi.
New Zealand will join Pakistan from Group 2 in the semi-finals of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2021 if they beat Afghanistan on Sunday, but if they lose the game, it will raise India's hopes of making it to the top four by having a better net run rate than any other team in the group.
Sodhi has been in fine form throughout the T20 World Cup 2021 so far, said the Black Caps must continue making collective efforts to win the crucial game against Afghanistan.
Sodhi said in the virtual pre-match press conference: “I think across the board, so far in the tournament, we've all had a lot of small contributions that have worked out really well for us over the past three games, especially. And we're just trying to remind ourselves what those strengths are.”
He added, “And we're very aware of the threat that Afghanistan brings. But if we do the basics really well and keep building on what we have been doing well we'll give ourselves a good chance.”
On playing at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the spinner said: “I think across the board everyone speaks of it being a reasonably good batting surface. I think it's considerably different to what Sharjah brings, the slightly smaller boundary with a quite low wicket.”
Afghanistan's three-pronged spin attack of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman has the ability to turn any game in their favor, and Sodhi said the New Zealand batters have taken it into consideration and hope to put in a good performance on Sunday.
He signed off by saying, “I'm sure all the batsmen during the scouting meeting have taken it into consideration, as well as the threat they bring with the bat. I know we spoke about it in depth this (Saturday) morning with our scouting and things like that. So hopefully we can put together some good performances tomorrow.”
(With ANI Inputs)
