Asia Cup 2018: Asghar Afghan feels Afghanistan has rung warning bells for major opponents
"We came here to make a statement and that is what we have done."
Afghanistan may not have won the Asia Cup but have definitely won millions of hearts worldwide with their display of spirited cricket. With their last match of the tournament resulting in a nail-biting draw with India, the Afghanistan side put up a stellar show with the ball and via the bat of Mohammad Shahzad. The skipper of the side is of the opinion that his team has rung warning bells for major opponents in the cricketing world.
Aided by a sensational innings worth 124 runs from the bat of Shahzad, Afghanistan were able to post a total of 252 runs on the board against India. What came next was top-notch bowling from the likes of Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Aftab Alam as they managed to restrict India to a tie with one ball remaining in the game.
Afghan reckons they’d have performed better in Dubai
Speaking to reporters at the end of Tuesday’s game, the Afghanistan captain said, “I was sure that we would play the final. I was sure that the conditions in Dubai would suit us better, because no team has played as much there as we have. It was hard luck that our matches were all in Abu Dhabi. If our matches had been played on this track in Dubai, I can confirm that Afghanistan would have been in the final. That was unfair on us. The wicket in Abu Dhabi went against our bowling. Nevertheless, our bowlers and batsmen have performed.”
Afghanistan previously beat Sri Lanka and Bangladesh at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi to enter the Super Four stage of the tournament. Playing at the same venue they lost to Pakistan by merely three wickets with three balls to go and to Bangladesh by three runs. “I said before the Asia Cup in a press conference that Afghanistan did not come here to just play the Asia Cup.
We came here to make a statement and that is what we have done. We fell short, you can say because of a lack of experience. The boys understand that they know what has to be done next time. It’s been fantastic, and we’ve learned a lot from this Asia Cup. Inshallah, the next time our cricket will be the best. Definitely, the warning bells are ringing. Don’t forget that.” Afghan added.
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