Afghanistan Prioritises World Cup Preparation over Bilateral Series

Afghanistan’s cricket skipper Rashid Khan stressed his side’s priorities are to secure above-par performances in ICC tournaments over focusing on victories in bilateral series. The team captain spoke to reporters at a pre-match presser during Afghanistan’s ongoing T20I series versus Bangladesh.

Afghanistan were one of the surprise packages at the T20 World Cup 2024. Their current setup aims to surpass achievements secured in the last tournament against top international teams in future competitions.

Rashid Khan Stresses His Team’s Focus on Improved World Cup Performance

Afghanistan wowed the cricket world with a remarkable semi-final berth at the last T20 World Cup. Khan led his side to a fairy-tale run by their standards with victories against New Zealand and Australia in the international tournament.

Only a determined South Africa side were able to dislodge the Afghans who had their sights set on their first-ever major cricket trophy in history. The team looks set to put in another strong performance in 2026, and Khan believes his side must be balanced to challenge top teams on the international stage:

“For us, each and every game is competitive. We are not here just to have fun, enjoy, and then go back. We have a target, and the target is how we are going to be a perfect and balanced side for the next World Cup. That’s the mindset from now on, and even since the last World Cup,” Khan said.

Rashid Khan Says Building Formidable T20I Team Takes Time

Afghanistan’s team captain believes his side are not yet at the level they were in 2024, and says they need time to prepare. Khan also said that taking part in T20I bilateral and trilateral series can be beneficial to Afghanistan’s T20 World Cup 2026 plans:

“We haven’t played much T20Is as a team to be honest. Before the tri-series, last we played in the World Cup which was seven-eight months ago. But to get back from that, get gather as a team, get better in future, it does take time,” the skipper added.

Losing Series Before T20 World Cup Does Not Matter – Khan Adds

The skipper’s sights are surely set on another inspired outing in 2026. He believes the current Afghanistan team can afford to take risks and experiment with different strategies during scheduled limited-overs series. Tinkering within the squad has been evident lately, with Afghanistan losing their last two T20I matches against Bangladesh:

“From now on, losing doesn’t matter that much for us, but we can get better as a well-prepared side for the World Cup, that is the target. If we win now, and we don’t win in the World Cup, for me, that’s more upsetting. But if we lose now, and we get better and stronger for the World Cup, I think we win there. That’s huge,” the captain added.

AFG skipper says Afghanistan lost many pre-tournament games but came back stronger in last two World Cups

The skipper made other examples that showed Afghanistan’s readiness to tweak their squad for as long as possible before high-stakes international tournaments:

“If you see before the 2024 World Cup, we lost so many games. But we came back and we went to the semifinals and that was a huge achievement for us. Same, take it in 2023 World Cup, we lost three back-to-back games to Pakistan in the bilateral series, we lost the first two games to India and Bangladesh, and then we beat the best sides – England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. So, there is always something we need to learn from it. And that’s for us is a challenge and a target as well,” he concluded.

AFG vs BAN 2025 T20I and ODI Series Full Schedule

T20Is

Afghanistan Full Squad for Bangladesh 2025 T20I Series

Batters:

Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli (Top-order Batter), Mohammad Ishaq (Wicketkeeper-Batter), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (Wicketkeeper-Batter), Sediqullah Atal (Opener), Wafiullah Tarakhil

Allrounders:

Rashid Khan (c, Bowling Allrounder), Azmatullah Omarzai (Batting Allrounder), Mohammad Nabi, Sharafuddin Ashraf

Bowlers:

Abdollah Ahmadzai, Fareed Ahmad, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Bashir Ahmad.