“The cricket we have played…- I think we deserve to be in the semis…” skipper Rashid Khan applauds his team’s efforts

New Delhi: Afghanistan has roared like a lion to storm into the semifinals as they pipped a spirited Bangladeshi team by 8 runs. It is a team effort by Jonathan Trott, DJ Bravo and the entire team. This young brigade of ‘giant killers’ has been led by a dynamic leader, Rashid Khan who feels the match against Bangladesh will go down in the history of Afghanistan cricket as one of the momentous feats.

The Celebration by Afghanistan fans after the historic semi final spot. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/eQNpnLsyez

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) June 25, 2024

Furthermore, Khan feels that the cricketing journey of Afghanistan in this year’s World Cup will be an inspiration for many Afghan youths back home. “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” remarked Rashid in the post-match conference.

Total silenced pic.twitter.com/N8FNFY8SXc

— Amit Shah (Parody) (@Motabhai012) June 25, 2024

It is a remarkable feat for Afghanistan given the fact that the team became a full member of the ICC only recently back in 2017. But things have fast-forwarded in the last 7 years as the team went on to showcase impressive performance at the U-19 level and subsequently began to show a lot of promise at the senior level as well. Now, the result that they have obtained will give a lot of self-belief to all the people involved with Afghanistan cricket.

Nepal’s inspirational performance against the Proteas!

Interestingly, the young Afghanistan captain was impressed by the way “minnows” Nepal had played against South Africa where the Proteas were stretched to their wits end. Although Nepal stumbled in their final juncture towards a memorable heist against South Africa, Rashid reckons that the game has provided a lot of ‘self-belief’ for the boys.

However, things have turned and the Proteas have managed to bounce back and win back-to-back wins on the trot. Their last game against West Indies also removed the “choker” tab. Naturally, the game against South Africa will be a fire test for Rashid and Co.