Afghanistan made a stunning comeback in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 after a string of defeats, and their captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, was over the moon with his team’s progress in the tournament.
After defeating Pakistan for the first time in ODI format, Afghanistan continued their giant-killing spree and produced an all-round display to register a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023 on October 30.
Afghanistan recorded back-to-back wins for the first time in their ODI World Cup history. Now, they jumped to the fifth spot on the CWC 2023 points table with six points in their kitty.
Meanwhile, Hashmatullah Shahidi, who scored an unbeaten 58 against Sri Lanka, said that he was proud of his team’s efforts at the ongoing World Cup 2023 in India.
Hashamtullah Shahidi told Star Sports during the post-match presentation: “Quite happy and proud of the team. Happy with the way we performed in all three departments. The last game (against Pakistan) gave us a lot of confidence and belief that we can chase any kind of target.”
The skipper also credited head coach Jonathan Trott and support staff for Afghanistan’s turnaround in the tournament.
He continued, “All the coaching and managing staff are working hard and giving us confidence. Especially Jonathan (Trott) he is always positive, before the Pakistan game he told me one word, and that changed my mindset a lot.”
Hashmatullah led Afghanistan from the front with an unbeaten half-century and stitched 111 runs with Azmatullah Omarzai (73*) for the fourth wicket to chase down the target of 242 in 45.2 overs against Sri Lanka. He is the leading run-scorer for Afghanistan in the tournament with 226 runs from six innings.
Speaking about his show, the skipper said: “As a captain, you should lead from the front and that’s what I am trying to do, I will try to maintain that in the rest of the tournament.”
He also thanked the fans, especially Indians for supporting the Afghanistan team in the World Cup 2023. Notably, Afghanistan will next face the Netherlands in Lucknow on November 3 in the tournament.
Hashmatullah signed off by saying, “I want to congratulate all the Afghanistan supporters and especially want to thank the Indian fans for coming out and supporting us.”
(With Star Sports/ANI Inputs)
