IND Vs AFG, ODI World Cup 2023: India Spinners Not A Worry For Afghanistan, Indicates Hasmatullah Shahidi

India will be facing Afghanistan in their second ODI World Cup 2023 encounter at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

New Delhi: Despite being undone by Bangladesh spinners in their ODI World Cup 2023 opener, Afghanistan aren’t worried about facing India’s world-class spin attack when both teams meet on Wednesday ay Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The Indian spin troika of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav dismantled the Australian batting line-up in Chennai on Sunday on a slow track, playing a crucial role in India’s six-wicket win.

“You know, we play better spin in the nets sessions,” Afghanistan Hashmatullah Shahidi told reporters ahead of the India game. Shahidi’s comments indicated they have better spinners than any other team in the world.

“If you see Rashid (Khan), Nabi (Mohammad), Noor (Ahmad) and Mujeeb (Ur Rahman), we play them every day,” Shahidi said. “I think our team is far, far better (than what it showed against Bangladesh in Dharamsala) at playing spin bowling,” he added.

The Afghan skipper blamed their own batting for their loss against Bangladesh. “That game we know we struggled, but (based on) one game, you can’t say you’re not good enough. That game is gone now, and we know we can play spinners better and we’ll try to come back in the next game,” he added.

However, the pitch in Delhi won’t be assisting much to the slow bowlers. Instead, it was a pure batting balter as South Africa scored a mammoth 428/5 against Sri Lanka. Shahidi wants their batters to be more disciplined.

“We have a good spin-bowling attack, but only one department can’t win you games. You have to score runs for that, to win the game. I still believe, and as a team we have that belief, that we can come back in the next game and throughout the tournament, so the belief is there and the talent is there and we will try to move on and make it better and improve in tomorrow’s game.

“As a team, the important thing is, when you lose (the sense of) how to deal with that situation. For me and for everyone, it’s the important thing. But still, it’s a long tournament. That game is gone from us.
“Now we are thinking and moving forward and the morale is still not down. We are looking forward to the other games. We have chances to win, and that’s (the feeling) inside the dressing room,” he added