Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan has revealed how his team coped with their heartbreaking double super over defeat to South Africa by indulging in comfort food and supporting each other through the disappointment.

The loss in Ahmedabad has virtually ended Afghanistan’s hopes of advancing to the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup 2026, but Khan refuses to let his players dwell on individual mistakes.

Speaking in Delhi ahead of his team’s match against UAE, Khan described how the squad dealt with the crushing defeat. “We were in Ahmedabad and we told the manager to order food. Peshawari food: their dal bukhara, dal makhani, I told him to order that and bring some tandoori chicken so that we can vent our anger on that,” he said with a smile.

The Afghan skipper made it clear that blame culture has no place in his dressing room. 

“No one should say that he did this or he did that because it brings negativity in the team. No one has lost, just our team has lost. We put in a lot of effort, but we never blame any player for being in a Super Over. I always tell everyone that as a captain I don’t want to hear any of these things. It disappoints me more than the game when you’re blaming the players.”

Khan compared the loss to Afghanistan’s defeat against Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup in Mumbai, where Glenn Maxwell’s extraordinary double-century knocked them out of semi-final contention after they had Australia reeling at 91 for 7 while defending 291.

“To be honest, it’s pretty hard. It’s very, very hard to lose that game where we had it in our hand a couple of times and then it just slips off your hand and it disappoints you. It doesn’t go away from your mind. Like, the game we played against Australia in the 2023 World Cup at Wankhede, it never goes out of the mind, until we won against them in the 2024 World Cup. And then slowly it got out of the mind,” he said.

In the match against South Africa, both teams scored 187 in regulation play, forcing the first super over. Afghanistan posted 17 runs in the first super over, but South Africa’s Tristan Stubbs hit a six off the final ball to tie it at 17 and force a second super over. 

In the second super over, South Africa scored 23 runs. Afghanistan, chasing 24 from four balls after losing a wicket early, saw Rahmanullah Gurbaz hit three consecutive sixes off Keshav Maharaj, needing just a boundary off the final ball after a wide. However, Gurbaz was caught at point, giving South Africa victory by four runs in one of the most dramatic finishes in T20 World Cup history.

It is worth noting that during the match against UAE on Monday in Delhi, Khan made history by becoming the first bowler to take 700 wickets in T20 cricket.