T20 World Cup 2024: Rashid Khan Confident as Afghanistan Eyes Semi-Finals: With their formidable spin attack and recent improvements in batting, Afghanistan is considered a strong contender for the semi-finals in this year’s T20 World Cup.
While acknowledging these predictions, Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan prefers to focus on the team’s performance on the field. Rashid expressed pride in the team’s progress, noting that not long ago, Afghanistan had to fight hard just to qualify for ICC events. Now, they are seen as one of the favorites to reach the semi-finals.
“They have mentioned Afghanistan is going to be there for semis,” Rashid said. “We take that as a very positive sign. Before, it used to be (that) Afghanistan even contribution was hard for us to get qualified.
“And now to be (in the) nomination, to be there in the top four, I think it’s big for us.”
“But for us, we don’t look to those things a lot. It’s all about how we’re going to be there in the ground, delivering. We were very near in the last World Cup as well to be in the semis.
“We were just one game away from being in the semis and that’s where I feel like the belief started that nothing is impossible and for us as a team. So yeah, looking forward we are really excited about this World Cup. We take one game at a time and then see how it goes.”
Rashid Khan was confident of Afghanistan’s ground preparation ahead of the tournament. Rashid and a few select players played in the IPL, while the rest of the Afghan players were involved in the domestic Kosh Tepa National T20 Cup in May.
“I think preparation has been great so far. The way the guys have been prepared, and they had that preparation back home in Afghanistan,” he said.
“A couple of weeks back, we had a domestic T20 competition, which really helped them to get that kind of preparation they need as a player and as a team. And then we’re here two weeks earlier as well. So, we got that full preparation, what we wanted as a team.
“We’re just about focusing on one game at a time and making sure we do the right things and take the right decisions at the right time. That’s something I think is going to help us. “And don’t think about the next round a lot. That’s something which is an extra pressure I feel like to be as a player.”
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