Batting all-rounder Gulbadin Naibhas called India as Afghanistan's 'second home' while discussing the T20 World Cup to be played there next year. Gulbadin and Afghanistan will enter the 20-team tournament as one of the favourites in the event that is scheduled to be played between February 7 and March 8 at eight venues across India and Sri Lanka.
Gulbadin highlighted the different venues at which the Afghans have played their international cricket in India over the years. He also pointed out the experience
many of Afghanistan players possess, featuring in the Indian Premier League.
“Luckily, our players are playing in leagues all over the world, and that’s a big plus for us. And with the T20 World Cup happening in India, it feels like home - our second home. We’ve played a lot of cricket there: in Dehradun, in Lucknow, and of course, many of our players have plenty of IPL experience," stated Gulbadin, as quoted by India Today.
Gulbadin remains confident that the conditions present in India will not be tough to get used to for his countrymen. He also expressed that the team management and the players themselves had a lot of expectations from the unit ahead of the global marquee tournament, as they look to go the distance this time round.
"Almost every team has one or two Afghan players playing regularly. The conditions in India won’t be too challenging for us. We’re looking forward to playing good cricket there. As for expectations, we do have a lot of them. But again, it’s all about the game. If we can push ourselves just 10% more than what we did in the last World Cup, it could make a huge difference,” he added.
Afghanistanhave been placed in Group D along with South Africa, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates and Canada. They will be playing in Chennai (vs New Zealand February 8), Ahmedabad (vs South Africa, February 11), and Delhi (vs UAE, February 16). They will further return to Chennai to play their last league stage game versus Canada on February 19. A top-two finish will ensure them a place in the Super 8s.
Speaking about Afghanistan's campaign in the 2024 edition, they had enjoyed a successful campaign which included wins against Uganda, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Bangladesh. They reached the semi-finals courtesy of their stellar showing throughout the league games and the Super 8s, but lost to the Proteas in the penultimate clash.
