Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan feels they should show more intent while chasing big scores against bigger teams. The Afghan team suffered a 47-run loss against India in their opening Super 8 clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday.
India posted a par score of 181 runs on the board after Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first. Suryakumar Yadav scored a fine knock of 53 runs whereas Hardik Pandya added 32 off 24 balls.
On the other hand, Afghanistan was skittled out for 134 runs in the run-chase as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. None of the Afghanistan batters could go past the 30-run mark as they failed to show a fight against the potent Indian bowling line-up.
Arshdeep Singh and Jasprit Bumrah bagged three wickets apiece whereas Kuldeep Yadav scalped two wickets. Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers, returning with impressive figures of 3-7 in his quota of four overs.
It was a slow pitch but the Afghanistan batters could not get their timing right. This was only the second time when all ten batters were caught in a T20 World Cup innings.
Afghanistan was also bowled out for 114 runs in their last group-stage match against the West Indies while chasing 219.
Rashid Khan said in the post-match presentation, “That was a surface we thought we could chase 170-180. You just go there and how you play. Against bigger teams, we should be thinking we will have to chase such scores. Body is feeling well. I struggled a little in the IPL. I am hitting the areas consistently now. We have enjoyed everywhere we have played. We forget our own skills sometimes. If the conditions are there, we will look to use it.”
Afghanistan will next take on Australia at the Arnos Vale Ground, Kingstown, St Vincent on Saturday.
