The way we played in the last three games, it's not what you expect from Afghanistan: Rashid Khan

Afghanistan has to be the one team that has made the most quantifiable progress in the last few years. From being an associate nation they not only defeated the Test playing nations in odd games but their inspiring journey earned them a Test status in just a matter of four years. Led by Rashid Khan, the team entered the World Cup Qualifiers 2018 as favourites but as it appears they might have lost their opportunity to feature in the tournament.

They lost to Scotland, Zimbabwe and Hong Kong in the Qualifiers and now their hopes of making it through dangle on the permutations and combinations. Afghanistan have to defeat Nepal by a huge margin and then hope Nepal and Zimbabwe can do that to Hong Kong.

It’s touch and go

Skipper Rashid after their defeat to Hong Kong accepted it is a very complex scenario for them here on. “It’s really touch and go,” he said. “If we can gain something in the Nepal game, and then something happens between Hong Kong and Nepal anything can happen. But the way we played in the last three games, it’s not what you expect from Afghanistan. But we’ll come back positive.”

Batting first in Bulawayo, Hong Kong posted 242 and looked a pretty achievable total by their standards. A strong start enhanced their chances further but the middle-order lost all the mojo and at 142/7 in 39 overs the chase was well beyond their reach. There was rain interruption and the revised target as per DLS was 226 in 46 overs, the Afghans fell 30 runs shy of the target.

Rain interruption

“I think we were in the game until Nabi and Najibullah got out,” the skipper said. “But after losing Nabi, the rain came, and the match started to get away from us. Losing Nabi was crucial.

“The wicket was good for batting in the morning, but it got difficult later on. We weren’t expecting the clouds (in the afternoon). It was bad luck for us. It suddenly came in, and totally changed the game. But we didn’t bat well,” he added while talking to the media in the post-match presentation.

Irresponsible cricket

Like the fans, even the young captain was disappointed with the team’s effort in the tournament considering how consistent they’ve been with their performance in recent times.

“You can’t expect such a performance from Afghanistan, the way we have played in the last two years. The guys played some irresponsible cricket, which wasn’t expected from them. But it happens sometimes in cricket. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. Sometimes a match doesn’t go your way. Sometimes a tournament doesn’t go your way,” Rashid stated.

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