‘Anything can happen in Super Sixes’ – Rashid Khan

Rashid Khan, the Afghanistan leg-spinner, denied feeling pressure during his stint as captain, and laid out his philosophy quite simply – “I just try to enjoy myself”.

He was speaking after his five-wicket haul against United Arab Emirates helped Afghanistan to a five-wicket win, which helped them stay in contention for a spot in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

"It’s a good feeling to take a five-wicket haul and to be able to contribute to the bowling department,” he said. “I did well in the last matches as well, the only thing was I got quite unlucky. Today, taking wickets, it was a good day for me. There is no pressure on me, [as] captain or not, or even as a bowler. I just try to enjoy myself.”

Despite the win, Afghanistan still need other results to go their way if they are to claim one of the two spots up for grabs. Rashid remained hopeful. “Anything can happen in the Super Sixes and it is quite difficult for everyone,” he said. “Still none of the teams have qualified for the first two [spots]. Everyone is in doubt and that’s a good thing. We just have to win our last game and see whatever the result is.”

Rashid returned 5/41 as Afghanistan had UAE bowled out for just 177 in 43 overs. But the chase wasn’t straightforward, with Afghanistan slipping to 54/5 before Gulbadin Naib and Najibullah Zadran put on an unbroken 124 to guide the chase and secure victory.

Rashid later admitted there was significant help for the bowlers, both overhead and off the pitch. “In the first ten overs of the first innings, there was something for the fast bowlers,” he said. “The ball was moving a lot, and when I came to bowl, the ball was spinning. Initially the ball was gripping and spinning, which helped us in taking early wickets and putting early pressure on them. At the end, they [UAE] tried to play some shots and they gave away the wickets.

“The batters [Naib and Najibullah] did really well. They got the responsibility when we lost five wickets for 50-60 runs, and that was a really good partnership. That was the plan for them to go and play till the end. And they did a good job and finished the game.”

As for UAE, the loss meant they had no chance of progressing past the Super Sixes. Despite that, Dougie Brown, the UAE coach, was upbeat and praised his bowlers, although he didn’t think much of the batting displays from both teams.

“Both the teams probably batted poorly," he said. "[But] credit must go to both the teams, they bowled exceptionally well. Afghanistan upfront, they did really well. There’s a lot of mystery in their bowling attack. We haven’t played against them regularly to be able to pick their variations. Even we did the same upfront, making things difficult for them. They came, they ebbed and flowed, they had momentum, and then we came back. At the end, credit to the last two guys who saw Afghanistan through”.

Brown was particularly impressed by Shaiman Anwar and Mohammad Naveed, who scored 64 and 45 respectively. “The kind of bowling attack Afghanistan have, we knew it was going to be difficult upfront," he said. "The more you are play against that type of bowling, the more you will learn, picking their bowling from the hand. That was key, and I think Shaiman [Anwar] started to pick towards the end and [Mohammad] Naveed played some shots and it came out really well. Credit to both of them.”