Gulbadin Naib admitted that although Afghanistan couldn’t make it to the last phase of the tournament, they have a lot of positives to take home from the tournament. He reckons his side didn’t need a lot of time to understand the UAE pitches, and had a few memorable moments during the World Cup, such as their win over West Indies.
During their first three matches in Group B, Afghanistan convincingly defeated Scotland and Namibia, which boosted their net run rate. Although Pakistan got the better of the Afghans, the Mohammad Nabi-led side was still in the hunt for a spot in the semi-finals until their loss to New Zealand on Sunday.
Learn more 👉 New Zealand beat Afghanistan easily to end Indian hopes
As Afghanistan bowed out of the World Cup, they also killed the hope of India reaching the semi-finals. Gulbadin Naib, who had an average tournament personally, claimed that he was pleased with the way Afghanistan played during the tournament. Their exploits have earned them a place in the Super 12 of next year’s T20I World Cup.
“In the end, everything, we came out here like three days before the tournament. And it’s great stuff for our team and our boys, who deliver very quickly, and we did a lot of good things here. So also, a good thing for us, so we qualified for the next World Cup. We’re in the top eight. But it’s a lot of work now,”
the 30-year-old said.
He also stated that it was always going to be hard against teams like India and Pakistan. The biggest positive Afghanistan can take from the tournament is that they are well and truly among the top 8 sides in the world as far as T20Is are concerned. They thrashed West Indies by 56 runs in the warm-up match, and didn’t allow the likes of Scotland and Namibia to trouble them during the respective Group B fixtures.
Overall, Afghanistan won two out of the five matches in Group B, and finished with a healthy net run rate. They finished fourth on the points table, confirming their inclusion in the Super 12 of next year’s mega event in Australia.
