LUCKNOW: The back-to-back defeats in the one-off Test in New Chandigarh and the opening ODI in Dharamshala have not dampened the mood in the Afghanistan camp. After an intense training session under sweltering heat at the Ekana Stadium here on Tuesday afternoon, when temperatures rose to 41 degrees Celsius, Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi was visibly exhausted but walked into the media conference with a smile across his face.
Learning from Mistakes
For Shahidi and his teammates, the series against a much superior Indian outfit is a learning curve. “I think we played good cricket in the first ODI, but there were some areas where we did not do well. We lost back-to-back wickets and had only one good partnership. We have to work on that and make sure we do not repeat the same mistakes. We have spoken about it and are keen to avoid losing wickets in quick succession,” the 31-year-old said.
The Afghanistan skipper also felt that it was important not to let advantage slip. “When you play teams like India, they don't give you many chances. So when you are ahead, you have to take advantage of that and don't give the game back to them,” he added.
Fond Memories of Ekana Stadium
Afghanistan have fond memories of the Ekana Stadium as it served as their adopted home during the 2019-20 period. “We played an ODI series against the West Indies at this ground and also played here during the 2023 World Cup. The conditions can be a little slower and spin-friendly, and the weather is also hot. We will try to do our basics right and play positive cricket,” Shahidi said.
Support for Darwish Rasooli
The Afghanistan captain also gave an update on Darwish Rasooli, the middle-order batter, who had to fly back home due to the death of his father, but has rejoined the squad before the second ODI here on Wednesday. “Rasooli learnt of the death of his father when we were leaving the hotel from Chandigarh towards Dharamshala and then he flew back home. He is back with us now and had a session with the team today.”
Shahidi said that the squad would do everything possible to support Rasooli. “As a player, it is not easy for anyone to lose a family member, especially a mother or father. In Afghanistan, many fathers want their sons to become top cricketers. Darwish has that chance, as his father wanted him to become one of the best cricketers for Afghanistan. It was his father’s dream, and now he is trying to fulfil that dream. Hopefully, he will do that for us in this series. It is a tough time for him, and our support as a team is with him,” Shahidi said.
