Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan has shown concerns over the top order batters of his team even after a maiden win against Pakistan in the series opener T20 on Friday night in Sharjah.
Rashid said that their top order needs to improve their strategy for the upcoming 50 overs World Cup.
Rashid and his teammates won their maiden T20 by thrashing a new-look Pakistani team, which was missing most of its stars who had opted to rest after the conclusion of a hectic Pakistan Super League.
They restricted the young Pakistan side, led by Shadab Khan, to 92-9 and chased down the target with 13 balls to spare with Mohammad Nabi making an unbeaten 38 in the low-scoring contest to go with his two wickets with the ball.
In the post-match conversation, Rashid said that it was his dream to beat Pakistan and it’s a pleasure to win against them. “We always lost against them previously, sometimes with a very low margin,” the Afghan captain said.
“Happy for the win, and we hope to continue the momentum,” he stated.
It was not an easy chase though as Afghanistan slumped to 27-3 before Nabi rescued them.
Rashid said that their top order needed to perform better in the ongoing three-match series and maintain form heading into the ODI World Cup in October-November.
“We need to improve not just for this series but as we get to the World Cup,” Rashid said.
“From now on, we need to put effort day by day and game by game, so that by the end of the year, when we go for the World Cup, we’ll have a fully prepared squad.”
The second T20 is scheduled for Sunday.
