New Delhi: Heartbreak in cricket can linger, replayed in fragments long after the game is over. For Afghanistan, the two-match Super Over loss to South Africa in Ahmedabad was one such moment. The game has slipped out of their grasp on more than one occasion and now threatens to derail their T20 World Cup campaign. On Sunday, skipper Rashid Khan admitted the pain was still severe but insisted the team must turn disappointment into renewed determination.
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Afghanistan had a chance to end the match within the stipulated 20 overs and win again in the first super over, but the match entered the second knockout round, which South Africa ultimately won. The narrow defeat came after a five-wicket loss to New Zealand in the first match.
“It’s heartbreaking. We have worked very hard over the past year and a half… keeping in mind the hope of going far in the T20 World Cup, but sometimes things don’t go your way. The most important thing is our mentality and the hard work we put in in the first two games,” Rashid said, admitting that the result took an emotional toll.
For a team that has been steadily rising in world cricket, this loss feels particularly cruel. Yet Rashid believes that no matter how painful the experience, it can serve a greater purpose. “It will help us. It will not only help us in the upcoming games but also in our upcoming cricket matches. So, we can take a lot of positives from these two games,” he said.
Afghanistan is no stranger to the lingering sting of near misses. Rashid compared them to their humiliating defeat to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup, when they dismissed their opponents for 91 for 7 before Glenn Maxwell’s double century turned the tide of the game. Rashid said this memory will stay with the team until they take revenge in the 2024 T20 World Cup.
“It’s very difficult to lose a game in our hands, like several times, and then it slips out of your hands. It doesn’t go out of your mind. Just like when we played against Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup, it never goes out of your mind until we beat them in the 2024 T20 World Cup,” Rashid said.
Beyond immediate disappointment, Rashid pointed to a broader challenge facing Afghanistan, which is the lack of regular exposure of high-level opposition. He said limited bilateral opportunities against leading teams made World Cup encounters “too demanding”.
“As a team, if you don’t get the opportunity to play against strong teams on a regular basis, that’s what happens. If we play more T20 games against South Africa, New Zealand, we will know where this team can beat us and where it can do better. You only have to play once a year and the same is true in World Cup events. At times and occasions like this, you have no choice to make mistakes,” he said.
Additionally, a realistic schedule often leaves teams like Afghanistan with little room for error.
“If you play two games in four days against New Zealand and South Africa, your World Cup could be over in four days. We lost two games in four days; we were basically out of the World Cup. So, the pressure is different. If you make a small mistake, you’re out of the tournament,” Rashid said.
He believes more exposure will help Afghanistan better understand and counter the elite team’s strategies. “If you play with them you get an idea. If you don’t play then they come up with a new plan every time… like we saw in New Zealand, they come with a can-do mentality.”
