Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan hit back at criticism that came his way after he recorded the World Cup’s worst bowling figures in a forgettable outing against England.
Used to being showered with accolades for game-changing performances, the ignominy of recording World Cup’s worst-ever bowling performance (9-0-110-0), against England, has been a humbling experience for Khan.
“I am not thinking too much about that match. People forget 10 good days and conveniently remember that one particular bad day. They don’t like to remember what Rashid did on previous 10 days,” Rashid Khan was quoted as saying by PTI.
Khan is the world’s no 3 bowler in ODIs and tops the T20 charts. “I would focus on the mistakes I committed in that match and rectify those in the coming matches. No point thinking about the criticism. I need to keep things simple.”
Asked if his relationship with skipper Gulbadin Naib has strained for voicing his displeasure at change of captaincy, Khan said: “Neither do I play for Gulbadin nor for the cricket board [ACB] but for Afghanistan.”
Khan and veteran Mohammed Nabi had raised objections when Naib replaced Asghar Afghan as the skipper for the World Cup, something that didn’t go well with the country’s cricket board.
Following five straight losses, plenty of conspiracy theories are floating including Rashid’s relationship with Naib. “I think there is no problem in my relationship with Gulbadin. I support him as much as I did when Asghar was the captain. If I supported Asghar 50 per cent on the field, Gulbadin has my 100 per cent support,” he said.
“Right from time we landed in England, no one has spoken about the issue. I think it was blown out of proportion by the media. Some of us have been playing together for 15-16 years. So if nothing has happened in more than decade, then what can suddenly change in a day or two.”
But when it comes to his take on change in captaincy, Khan chose to stick to his guns. “Neither do I play for Gulbadin nor for the cricket board. I play for the flag, for Afghanistan. I know what my job is and I will continue doing that.
“That tweet by me or Nabi, wasn’t in support of Asghar. We raised our voice for the betterment of Afghanistan cricket,” the 20-year-old spinner, who is an important member of IPL team Sunrisers Hyderabad said.
Khan then explained why he felt that the time was not appropriate to change captaincy. “We were going to play a big event like the World Cup. The combination didn’t seem like Asia Cup and if you tinker with the combination before a big tournament, it’s not a great thing. That was the reason for the tweet,” he said.
He did acknowledge that not playing enough games against big teams has stalled Afghanistan’s growth.
“Actually, we haven’t played a lot against teams like Australia and England and that pressure is also there. In a stage like World cup, suddenly the pressure increases manifold when you play against big sides and that can affect the performance,” Khan reasoned.
“This is the first time, we played South Africa in an ODI. We played New Zealand and Australia after 2015 World Cup. If you play a team once in four years, you are bound to face problems. As players, we understood we need to work harder.”
