From the moment Afghanistan landed in Dhaka to take part in their first major 50-over tournament, the Asia Cup, they made their intentions clear – to let the world know of their caliber and capabilities. After scaring their neighbors Pakistan in their first match, the Afghans showed strong character to win their maiden match against a Test playing nation, Bangladesh.
Afghanistan will face Sri Lanka at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today and their left-arm spinner Hamza Hotak once again reminded what their plan is against the former world champions while he also gave a glimpse of their die-hard mentality.
On both their outings in the Asia Cup so far, the Afghans threw themselves on the field and displayed breathtaking performance against the big names in world cricket. A small cricketing nation is always thought to be nervous or puzzled against the big teams, but Hamza said they follow a very simple method.
“To be honest we don’t worry about the big names. We just look at the bat, the ball and the wicket during a game,” said Hamza after their practice session at the National Cricket Academy ground yesterday.
Hamza, who follows Pakistani left-arm spinner Adbur Rahman, said they will “Give a tough time to Sri Lanka. We have plans in hand and hope we will be able to execute them well.”
After playing the first two matches at Fatullah, it will be the first time Afghanistan will take the field at SBNS and Hamza informed that their playing eleven is still undecided and it will depend on how the wicket looks, “The pitches are working good for both the spinners and the fast bowlers, so we will see.”
The win against Bangladesh was the biggest moment for Afghanistan cricket till date and the celebration was also not limited.
“The win was great. We won against a Test playing nation and it was a big thing for us. The dressing room was nervous basically 90 for 5. But Asghar [Stanikzai] and Samiullah Shenwari stood up and eventually did a great job for the team.The president and the finance minister called us to congratulate us and say that we played well. I talked to my family back in Afghanistan and they were very happy for us.
“All people back home came out of home and chanted ‘Afghan, Afghan, Afghan’,” he said.
Hamza also thought that their win will be a boost for them in their match against India. “Yes, the win against Bangladesh will boost us when we face India as the win was against a Test nation. So we should do good against the other teams too,” Hamza said.