Sylhet: Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan didn’t hold back to point out his team’s lack of skills to win the T20I series against Bangladesh on Sunday. For Bangladesh, Shakib Al Hasan led from the front as his all-round performance with bat and ball provided Bangladesh a two-match T20I series victory over Afghanistan after they won a rain-affected second T20I match by six wickets. Rashid made it clear that rain was not an excuse to be used by a team. They simply lacked skills, especially in batting.
“Weather is not an excuse for a team. T20 should be decided on skills and we were not good enough there, especially in batting. If we took a bit more time to score more, we could've,” Rashid said in the post-match presentation.
He further went on to highlight the issues that hinder Afghanistan from getting a good start with the bat. “You need to know your role and your capacity in how you start the innings. Also have to control emotions. That's what we are lacking. Main target is to fix those for next world cup. (Bowling effort) Just what I wanted from the boys. Good effort. We got a few wickets to put pressure but less score on the board didn’t let us get on the right side. Yes, I am leaving in an hour or two for MLC,” Rashid added.
Looks like Siraj set off a trend of flying one-handers.
This time, it's a blinder by Rashid Khan!#BANvAFG pic.twitter.com/ThHXJODzXG
— FanCode (@FanCode) July 17, 2023
Bangladesh skipper Shakib al Hasan won the ‘Player of the Match’ as well as the ‘Player of the Series’ awards after the T20I matches. “No don’t think it was nerves. We lost couple of wickets but given the start we had, we were always ahead. Given the ground conditions, knew their spinners will have it tough,” Shakib said after the match.
“Today I and coaching staff wanted younger guys to get more time and get the job done. Then I had to come in. The boys playing the ODIs are also part of this team. They will take this confidence into Asia Cup and World Cup,” he added.
Coming to the match, while chasing a low target of 119 set by DLS, Bangladesh’s openers Litton Das and Afif Hossain started off aggressively as they collected 19 runs in the second over of the innings. The duo added 50 runs to the board in 5 overs. Afghanistan did a comeback in the 10th over when Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed Litton Das who was batting 35 (36) and in the same over cleared up Afif Hossain at 24 (20).
Azmatullah Omarzai then picked the wicket of Najmul Hossain in the 11th over. However, Bangladesh’s experienced batter Shakib Al Hasan took responsibility and completed the chase in 16.1 overs. For Afghanistan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Azmatullah Omarzai picked two scalps each by conceding 28 and 17 runs respectively.
