ICC World Cup 2019 | Afghanistan should be a top five side by next World Cup, states Gulbadin Naib
Gulbadin Naib has admitted that his teamās performance has been below expectations but this is not the end of the road for them and they have the potential to return to the mega event four years later as a much improved team. He also addressed concerns regarding fitness and professionalism.
Even though Afghanistan entered the quadrennial tournament as the lowest ranked team among the ten participating, everyone expected them to make a bigger impact than they have managed to, considering the spirit with which the country is known to play the game. However, it was simply not to be this time around as they ended the group stageĀ at the last spot having lost all nine of their games.
However, they did have a few bright spots through the course of the mega event. They came very close to defeating India and Pakistan, while also managing to give West Indies a very close fight in their last match apart from having bottled the game from a winning position against Sri Lanka.
"First three games we played really badly. I accept it. Like against Australia, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka. Yeah, you target some games here like against Sri Lanka, Pakistan. Like we played quite well against India. And also against West Indies. But I'm not happy with the team performance," skipper Gulbadin Naib said in the post-match press conference, reported Cricbuzz.
The Asian team has put up some memorable performances in recent years. From winning multiple ODI series against the likes of Ireland and Zimbabwe to recording a win against Sri Lanka and tying against India in the Asia Cup held last year, the team has come a long way from its early days. Hence, the fans certainly expected more from the players in a country where the sport is seen as an escape from the grave troubles of everyday life.
"Fitness is a big issue for our team. So if you're not fit, nothing will go well on you. We should improve our cricket. We should improve our skills and we should improve every department now of our cricket. We didn't give 100 percent to what the audience expected from Afghanistan. So I say sorry to my fans, to my country, to my audience," Naib added.
Notwithstanding their bad run of form, the rise of Afghanistan through the ranks is unparalleled in cricketing history. From playing in the fifth division in 2008 to participating in successive World Cups and being granted full ICC membership, it has been a memorable run and will only get better with time as per their skipper.
"We achieved a lot of things in a very short time. So it's cricket. Sometimes it happens. The World Cup is not the end of our cricket. I'm hoping Afghanistan will be in the next World Cup. In the coming two, three years Afghanistan should be in the top five, six insha'Allah. We look forward. But have to learn a lot of things. We take positive things from here. We did a lot of mistakes. We should learn from that," Naib signed off.