Afghanistan’s star spinner, Rashid Khan, expressed his hope that their remarkable 69-run World Cup victory against England would bring joy to the people of Afghanistan and help ease the suffering caused by recent earthquakes. On Sunday, Afghanistan achieved one of the most remarkable upsets in World Cup history by surprising the defending champions, England.
“This is a big win for us. This kind of performance gives us the belief that we can beat any side on any day. It will give us the energy for the rest of the World Cup,” Rashid Khan spoke to the broadcasters after Afghanistan dismissed England for 215, after achieving a total of 284 runs.
Afghanistan pulled off a massive upset by defeating the defending champions England in the World Cup
“Cricket is something that brings joy to the people back home. Winning the game against England is big for us. Recently, we had an earthquake back home. Over 3,000 people lost their lives, many houses were destroyed, so this win will put a little bit of smile on their faces and maybe, they can little bit forget those days.”
Afghanistan has endured the devastating impact of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks, causing significant loss of life and destruction of villages. To compound matters, a powerful 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit western Afghanistan on Sunday. Player of the Match, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, dedicated his award to his fellow countrymen affected by these circumstances.
“I want to dedicate this award to the people back home, who have been affected by the earthquake. This is something we could do as a team and I could do myself as a player,” He said this after taking 3 wickets for 51 runs and scoring 28 off 16 balls.
“It is a very proud moment to be here at the World Cup and beating the champions. Great achievement for the whole team and this is the kind of opportunity we have been working hard for. It was a wonderful performances by the bowlers and the batters.”
Rashid, who took three wickets for 37 runs, explained that they had set achievable targets and were focused on doing their best without worrying about whether they would win or lose.
“I made it clear to everyone in the dressing room. Whatever happens in the tournament, we just have to fight till the end. We made small goals for ourselves. You just have to be happy that you gave your 100% while going back to the hotel.”
Talking about Mujeeb, Rashid said, “Mujeeb has been contributing consistently for us. We have been bowling together in the nets. As we have been batting together in the net’s”
“We discuss what’s the best ball to bowl on the wicket. Sharing information helps us. I’m lucky to have him around. Also, we have Nabi and great to have him who has plenty of experience. It’s a special occasion for Nabi. 150th game for him. Also, 100th game for Rahmat Shah. We said that we would celebrate after the win. This will be a memorable win for him.”
“We lost to England in the 2016 T20 World Cup here. We had a discussion about it. As we restricted them to 140 but had a collapse. We learnt from the mistakes and really happy to win tonight,” he added.
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