Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan wants his team to compete against better opponents in longer tours, and has urged boards to try and ensure that for the sake of Afghanistan’s growth as a cricketing force.
Afghanistan were declared joint-winners alongside Bangladesh on Tuesday, September 24 after the final of the T20I tri-series was washed out. During the tournament, which also featured Zimbabwe, Afghanistan bettered their previous record [11] of consecutive T20I wins [12], and the sharing of the tri-series meant Afghanistan have lifted the trophy in their last five T20I tournaments.
However, Rashid, the No.1-ranked T20I bowler, rued the lack of Tests and ODIs in their short bilateral tours – their Bangladesh tour comprised just one Test and no ODIs.
“The best example is Bangladesh,” said Rashid. “They played a lot against South Africa and ended up having the best result against them in the World Cup. If we want to be a good side, we should play more against the top sides. Not one match in four years.
“These teams have four fast bowlers who bowl 140-plus. We play against Scotland and Ireland, and they hardly have a 140-plus bowler. We have played only twice against Australia, New Zealand and England in the last five years [all in World Cups]. If we played more against them, we could have known their strengths and weaknesses. It should be looked into.”
