Afghan cricketer, Rashid Khan, has requested cricket fans to keep cool during Pakistan and Afghanistan T20 World Cup match scheduled on Friday.
Both the teams are undefeated in the tournament so far and are vying for their place in the semi-finals of the world cup. The atmosphere is expected to be charged up partially attributed to the political situation. “It’s always a good game against Pakistan, but this should remain as a game,” Rashid said on Thursday.
“I request all the fans to stay cool and calm and just enjoy the game. What happened in the 2019 match should not have happened.”
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Rashid Khan said his team is currently focusing on winning the tournament. “We have only the World Cup in mind, we’re playing five games and we need to win three games,” said the 23-year-old.
“We don’t think about what’s happening. We don’t think about what happened in the past. That is something that is not in our hands, it is not in our control.
RK @rashidkhan_19 the #Afghan #cricket star during a pre-match conference against #Pakistan, admitted that pressure is on both sides but they will try to make 100% efforts to "win the match".He called upon all the funs to enjoy the game as a game,"cricket spreads message of love"
— Jafar Haand (@jafarhaand) October 28, 2021
“We shouldn’t think about it, we don’t want extra pressure on us. As a team, we’re just focusing on this World Cup to get better and better.”
Rashid Khan added that hitting sixes and boundaries is not the only objective of the team. Afghanistan had hit 11 sixes and 13 boundaries in their first match against Scotland.
Rashid Khan has been part of 15 T20I wins in the UAE & has lost nothing. Babar Azam has been part of 13 T20I wins in the UAE & has lost nothing. Afghanistan meet Pakistan tonight & either Rashid/Babar will lose their first T20I in the UAE via @NotFareed
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) October 29, 2021
“To be honest, we don’t have that kind of mindset, like, you have to focus on hitting so many sixes,” he said.
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“But you have to adjust yourself with the wicket.
“I think we need to play good cricket. It’s not about getting too many sixes. These grounds are very hard to hit sixes. The wickets are not as good to hit the sixes.” Rashid Khan is a notable Afghan cricketer and was the former captain of the team.
Pakistan has also won its first two matches in the T20 World Cup 2021. The team looks promising to go ahead in the tournament.