Last Update on: November 11th, 2023 at 10:22 am
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan praised Afghanistan for the kind of cricket they played in the ICC World Cup 2023. They won four games and lost nine and earned the love and respect of cricket fans all across the globe. They lost their final game against South Africa and missed a shot at qualifying for the semi-finals.
Afghanistan headed into this World Cup with just one win across the last two editions of the World Cup. In this World Cup alone they doubled their tally with four wins. They defeated England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and the Netherlands to reach greater heights in cricket.
Against South Africa, they had their moment when they had the Proteas down at 139/4 chasing 246 to win with Heinrich Klaasen’s wicket. However, the lower-order chipped in with Rassie van der Dussen who scored an unbeaten 76 to take SA home.
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Irfan Pathan Praises Afghanistan After Memorable World Cup Campaign
Taking to Twitter Irfan Pathan praised Afghanistan’s performance in the campaign. “Top quality cricket by Afghanistan this World Cup. Second best Asian team for sure. Hopefully from here on this team will create magic on the field. Good luck going forward @ACBofficials @rashidkhan_19,” tweeted Pathan praising the Afghans for playing some quality cricket.
Top quality cricket by Afghanistan this World Cup. Second best Asian team for sure. Hopefully from here on this team will create magic on the field. Good luck going forward @ACBofficials @rashidkhan_19
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) November 10, 2023
Skipper Hasmatullah Shahidi after the loss to South Africa said that he was proud of his players with the kind of performances they put up in this World Cup. He further said that he was happy with the fight shown by his players, especially by his batters.
“As a captain, I am quite happy with our performance. We fought till the last moment in each and every game. Good learnings for us in the future. Proud of the way our batters performed in this tournament. We were struggling before this tournament. We sat together and talked about the weak point, so at the end, you saw the result of how our batsmen did.”
“That’s a positive thing, looking forward to the future. Everyone knows that we have a good spin department. If we go with the same momentum, we’ll be a very good side. We have a good message to the world in this tournament. We played big teams and we fought till the last moment. Australian game, it was in our hands, but it was shocking for us” Shahidi said after the game.
With Pakistan having a mountain to climb against England, India are likely to face New Zealand in the first semi-final in Mumbai on November 15. South Africa will take on Australia in the second semi-final in Kolkata on November 16. The final will be played on November 19 in Ahmedabad.
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