Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said that
they have the idea about the strength and weakness of all Bangladeshi
players, something which would help them plan better to how to make a winning
start in their World Cup opener tomorrow (Saturday).
“We are playing against Bangladesh tomorrow. So, we have plan for each
individual and we are planning against all of them like we know the strength
of every player we know the weakness of them – through videos. There is not
any specific player to be targeted, and we will play their 11 players and we
will have to play well against all of the team,” Shahidi said in Dharamshala
today.
A couple of months back, they won a three-match ODI series against Bangladesh
by 2-1 and that too in Bangladesh’s own backyard but in Asia Cup, they
suffered a crushing defeat to Tigers.
Afghanistan indeed can’t beat Bangladesh in any ICC tournament but this time
they are upbeat about the chance.
“As you know that our players played a lot in IPL and also other players who
didn’t play IPL, we also played in these conditions because India was our
home. So, we know about the conditions and we will take that advantage with
us throughout the tournament,” Shahidi said.
“We played a lot against Bangladesh. Sometimes we won, sometimes they won. In
Asia Cup, they beat us in the last game that we played with them – but we are
totally ready here and we have had meetings, we prepare ourselves and we know
them very well so we will play accordingly and we will try our best as a team
to bounce back in this game against them.”
He is also confident that his team will have a good outing in this World Cup,
proving the critics wrong as they thought that the Afghans are only a
bilateral series bully.
The Afghans performance in the global event indeed forced the critics believe
so. Hashmatullah Shahidi and co failed to win a single match in 2019 World
Cup and even in the last Asia Cup, they didn’t win any match.
Shahidi said their mindset is different now, compared to the past and so they
can believe they would remove the tag of a bilateral series bully only.
“I think our mindset is different now and as a team and as a leader I am very
confident this time in this World Cup,” Shahidi said in Dharamshala today.
“We will achieve a lot and that’s what our aim and target is. We will try our
best to play positive cricket and don’t worry about what happened in the
past. So, we will try to give our best here. And again, I will say as a
leader, I am very confident because our team is better than before in other
tournaments. It was good, but now this time it’s better. I feel that. We will
try our best to give positive results and make it historic for our country’s
people.”
Former India player Ajay Jadeja is appointed as new mentor of Afghanistan and
Shahidi believes his appointment will work for them to do well in the
cricket’s showpiece event.
“He played a lot for India, he has the experience and also, he knows about
the conditions in India. From the first day that he is with us we are talking
with him. He is a very positive person and is always talking positive things
to improve our team. We will get the advantage of that and we are trying to
get the advantage of every talk that he gives to the team. And it will help
us throughout the tournament.”
Source: Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha