T20 World Cup 2024: Rashid Khan Prioritises Self-Belief As Afghanistan Kickstart Their Campaign Against Uganda

T20 specialist Rashid Khan is all set to lead Afghanistan for the first time in the T20 World Cup 2024. This will be his fourth T20 World Cup appearance and seventh for the Blue Tigers. Afghanistan are placed in Group C, which is being referred to by many as the Group of Death. West Indies, New Zealand, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea are the other teams in the group. Only two teams from each group will advance to the Super Eight stage of the showpiece event. Afghanistan's road to the Super Eight stage will be challenging, with the likes of the West Indies and New Zealand in the group. However, Rashid is relaxed as he feels the wickets will suit their bowling line-up comprising many mystery spinners.

Rashid Khan prioritises self-belief as Afghanistan kickstart their campaign against Uganda

Afghanistan has often been a dark horse when it comes to the ICC events. After pulling off some of the biggest upsets in the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, the Rashid Khan-led side will aim to get their hands on the coveted title. The Afghans are scheduled to play all their T20 World Cup 2024 matches in the Caribbean islands, kickstarting their campaign against Uganda at Providence Stadium in Guyana on June 3 at 8:30 PM Local, 6:00 AM IST (June 4).

Afghanistan's road to the Super Eight stage will be challenging, with the likes of the West Indies and New Zealand in the group. However, skipper Rashid Khan is relaxed as he feels the wickets will suit their bowling line-up comprising many mystery spinners. The star all-rounder believes that even if the wickets are flat, Afghanistan's mystery bowlers can make life difficult for the opposition batters with their skills and variations.

"The confidence (to progress to Super Eight stage) is there because we have already beaten West Indies a few times in T20s. We beat them in ODIs as well. And, more importantly, there are seven to eight guys playing in the IPL, which is the best preparation ahead of the World Cup. And the conditions in the World Cup may be good for the spinners - at least, that is my expectation. Even if it is flat wickets, the kind of bowling unit we have, we don't rely much on the wicket. We have a fair few mystery spinners who make it harder for the batter to score freely," Rashid Khan said.

Afghanistan impressed experts and fans with their ODI World Cup 2023 performance. They beat England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands and finished sixth in the 10-team tournament. Rashid said they had the belief that they could beat any side in the tournament. He urged his team to have faith in their abilities again as they look to make the knockouts of the T20 World Cup for the first time.

"But the most important thing is how we are going there mentally. Do we have that kind of belief where we can beat New Zealand? Do we have that kind of belief where we can beat West Indies? As soon as that belief comes, you can beat any side. That's the kind of belief we had in the ODI World Cup last year in India. Since we beat England, we said we can beat any side," Rashid concluded.

Talking about their playing combination, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran are set to open the batting. At the same time, Azmatullah Omarzai and Mohammad Nabi will have to step up with their all-round abilities. Noor Ahmad will likely start ahead of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, while Naveen-ul-Haq and Fazalhaq Farooqi will lead the pace attack.