Rashid Khan prioritises self-belief as Afghanistan builds on T20 World Cup 2024 performance

In 2024, Rashid Khan will captain Afghanistan for the first time at the T20 World Cup. His fourth appearance in the T20 World Cup will be his eighth with the Blue Tigers.

Afghanistan is included under Group C, sometimes known as the Group of Death. The other teams in the group are from the West Indies, New Zealand, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea. Only two teams from each group will move on to the main event’s Super Eight round. It will be difficult for Afghanistan to advance to the next round with the presence of teams like the West Indies and New Zealand. Though Rashid believes the pitches will suit their bowling lineup, which includes a few of unknown spinners, he isn’t very concerned.

The all-around hero claimed that Afghanistan’s mystery bowlers can put the opposition batting team through a tough time with their abilities, even when the pitches are flat.

Also read: Babar Azam on India-Pakistan high-level matches

We already had a few T20 victories over the West Indies, so we are confident that we can make it to the Super Eight level. In ODIs as well, we triumphed. What’s more, the Indian Premier League is the ideal preparation for the World Cup, with seven or eight people participating. And from what I understand, the World Cup conditions might be favourable for the spinners. With the bowling unit we have, we don’t rely too much on the wicket, even on flat ones. The hitter finds it more difficult to score easily against us because we have a good number of mystery spinners, Rashid told ESPNcricinfo.

“I have bowled a lot in the CPL as well. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, and [Mohammad] Nabi have all bowled on the wickets in the Caribbean, so we are all familiar with the conditions and have found enough spin. So that gives us the advantage,” he continued.

Rashid Khan hopes Afghanistan will have the same confidence that carried them through the 2023 ODI World Cup.

Afghanistan performed admirably in the 2023 ODI World Cup, winning over both experts and fans. In the 10-team competition, they became victorious after defeating England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands. They believed they could defeat any team in the competition, according to Rashid. As they attempt to qualify for the T20 World Cup knockout stages for the first time, he exhorted his team to have confidence in their skills once more.

The most crucial factor, though, is our mental preparation. Does our belief that we can defeat New Zealand reach that level? Are we really so confident that we can defeat the West Indies? You can defeat any side as soon as that belief manifests. We kind much thought that the ODI World Cup in India last year was going to happen. We said, ‘We can beat any side, since we beat England,’ said Rashid.

Afghanistan’s campaign gets underway at Providence Stadium in Guyana on Tuesday, June 4, when they play Uganda, who are making their debut.