Afghanistan superstar Rashid Khan was involved in an online spat with former Afghanistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Shafiq Stanikzai yesterday (October 1).
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Afghanistan have arrived in India for the 2023 World Cup: their first warm-up match on September 29 against South Africa was washed out without a ball being bowled.
However, with just three days to go for the start of the main event of the World Cup, all does not seem to be well in and around Afghanistan cricket.
Rashid Khan put out an explosive tweet on Sunday (October 1) claiming that the squad that Afghanistan have for the World Cup is one of the fittest and the best squads they have ever had. He took aim at former Afghanistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Shafiq Stanikzai, accusing him of making “compromises” in team selections previously and asked him to stop spreading false information.
I think it’s the best and one of the most fit teams we have ever had for any of the mega events so far and I believe we can deliver to the best this time.
Many compromises has been done during your management @ShafiqStanikzai in the past while selecting the teams for the Wold…— Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19) October 1, 2023
Stanikzai, who was the ACB Chief from 2014-2019, is said to have played a crucial role in developing Afghanistan cricket in that period. He also founded the Afghanistan Premier League, a franchise T20 tournament.
However, Stanikzai’s tenure was marked with frequent reports of corruption and malpractice, particularly in national team selections, which is what Rashid alluded to in his tweets.
While it’s still unclear as to what prompted Rashid to post what he did, Stanikzai has come out with a response even more fiery. In a series of tweets, Stanikzai has mentioned how Rashid had expressed contrasting emotions for him during their last conversation and has listed down his achievements as a cricket administrator, wishing the Afghanistan luck for the World Cup at the end.
My Dear Champ @rashidkhan_19
Your tweet has left me somewhat bewildered. It appears to be at odds with the sentiments you’ve previously expressed. Do you recall your past tweets where you lauded me, dedicating victories to my contributions to the ACB after my tenure? pic.twitter.com/AhmN679VFG
— Shafiq Stanikzai (@ShafiqStanikzai) October 1, 2023
Afghanistan’s next warm-up game is on October 3 against Sri Lanka, while their World Cup campaign starts on October 7 against Bangladesh.
