Afghanistan may not be very concerned about facing
spin against India, whose spinners defeated Australia in their tournament
opener, despite the fact that they lost six wickets to India’s spinners for 62
runs in 18 overs in their first World Cup match.
“You know, we play better spin in the nets
sessions,” Hashmatullah Shahidi, their captain, said when asked what the
conversation has been around playing a spin trio even better than the
Bangladesh spinners.
Shahidi most likely meant they play high-quality spinners
in the nets, not necessarily spinners who are superior to those from India or
Bangladesh, but even if he did, the assertion that Afghanistan’s spinners are
superior should not be disregarded out of hand.
“If you see Rashid [Khan], Nabi [Mohammad], Noor
[Ahmad] and Mujeeb [Ur Rahman], we play them every day,” Shahidi said.
“I think our team is far, far better [than what it showed against
Bangladesh in Dharamsala] at playing spin bowling. That game we know we
struggled, but [based on] one game, you can’t say you’re not good enough. That
game is gone now, and we know we can play spinners better and we’ll try to come
back in next game.”
However, Shahidi did say the batters needed to do
better. “We have a good spin-bowling attack, but only one department can’t
win you games,” he said. “You have to score runs for that, to win the
game. I still believe, and as a team we have that belief, that we can come back
in the next game and throughout the tournament, so the belief is there and the
talent is there and we will try to move on and make it better and improve in
tomorrow’s game.
“As a team, the important thing is, when you lose
[the sense of] how to deal with that situation. For me and for everyone, it’s
the important thing. But still, it’s a long tournament. That game is gone from
us. Now we are thinking and moving forward and the morale is still not down. We
are looking forward to the other games. We have chances to win, and that’s [the
feeling] inside the dressing room.”