The Group B Asia Cup match between Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi seemed to be in the balance till the 41st over, with Afghanistan reduced to 160 for 7. However, Rashid Khan then took the game away from Bangladesh with an unbeaten 57 off 32 balls, along with Gulbadin Naib’s 42 off 38. The unbroken 95-run stand powered Afghanistan to 255 for 7, after which Rashid returned figures of 9-3-13-2 to dismiss Bangladesh for just 119.
“It was a special day for me and I am realy happy as I contributed in batting, bowling and fielding,” Rashid said at the post-match presentation ceremony. “We have worked hard for this and we want to continue this form. I wanted to bat till the end and focus on each and every ball. I had good preparation in the practice session.
“We have been working hard on our fielding as it can win matches for you. It is all about luck in batting and bowling but fielding is one thing that is totally in our hands and we wanted to get better.”
Rashid didn’t come on to bowl till the 21st over, a strategy to ensure he bowls maximum dot balls in the middle overs.
“I come late to bowl because I can bowl dot balls and put the pressure on the batsmen,” he explained. “I think the wicket changes behaviour here every match so we look to stay positive in our approach. We don’t want to focus too much on result. We just want to give our 100% on field. I want to dedicate this Man of the Match award to ex-chairman of Afghanistan cricket Atif Mashal, he has done a great job for Afghanistan cricket in the past few years.”
