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Follow UsHistory was created in St Vincent on June 24 (Monday) as Afghanistan made it to the final four of a major event for the first time in their history after triumphing over Bangladesh in a nerve-wracking contest. Australia’s defeat at the hands of India the previous day made the equation simple for the Afghans: win and go through to the semi-finals of the World Cup.
The Afghans put up an under-par performance with the bat after winning the toss, and looked like they’d lose during multiple points in the chase. But they never stopped believing at any point. The self-belief of the players eventually helped drag the side over the line and gift the country one of its greatest ever sporting moments.
In the aftermath of the remarkable achievement, skipper Rashid Khan asserted that Afghanistan rightfully and deservedly are in the final four.
“Well, I don't know how to describe my feeling. It's a big achievement for us being in the semifinals and yeah, I think the cricket we have played in the whole tournament so far - I think we deserve to be in the semis,” Rashid said in the post-match press conference.
“The way everyone took the responsibility of getting into the game and performing best for the team. So, I don't know how I can describe my feeling but it's a massive achievement for us as a team and as a nation to be in the semis and now looking forward to the semis.”
Prior to the Afghanistan-Bangladesh game, every game in St Vincent had been won by the team defending. So Afghanistan had a head start the moment they won the toss and batted first.
Still, 115 was never going to be easy to defend, even on a tough batting track, due to the target effectively being one good partnership away from being conquered.
Rashid admitted his side were 15-20 runs short of an ideal par score but asserted that the self-belief was there at every point in the contest.
“I think we were there like 15-20 runs short. We could have done better than that to score 130-135 but the bowling unit we have we felt like it's enough for us,” the Afghanistan skipper said.
“We have to bowl in the right areas consistently and making sure we have the right belief and right mindset that we can defend. In the past few games here, the team defended 106 runs. So, I think the belief was there as long we just keep ourselves calm and make sure we do the right thing the right time.”
Thing got really tight during the second innings, but Rashid still maintained his calm, seemingly on the outside at least.
Was he calm on the inside too?
“No, I was not calm at some points, it was hard for me to be calm,” he said.
“Sometime you have to be very aggressive, but at the same time, when bowling those four overs, I was very calm, yeah,” the 25-year-old added.
14 years ago, in the 2010 T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, Afghanistan played their first ever ICC event.
Just 14 years later, they are semi-finalists, and are two wins away from becoming world champions.
Rashid believes this particular campaign will prove to be a ‘huge inspiration’ for the youngsters back home in Afghanistan.
“I think the semi-final is going to be a massive, massive like inspiration for the youngsters back home in Afghanistan. That Afghanistan team get into the semis for the first time. And we have done it under 19 level, but this level we haven't done that. Even Super Eight was first time for us and then in semis. It's an unbelievable feeling.”
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