LONDON: Afghanistan skipper Rashid Khan has set his sights on making a mark in the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia following his side’s dismal showing in the recently concluded 50-over World Cup in England.

Making their second appearance in the 50-over World Cup, Afghanistan fell to defeats in all nine games to finish bottom of the 10-team table in England and Wales.

Having been recently appointed as the Afghanistan skipper across all three formats, Rashid is targeting some big improvements from his side in the 2020 T20 World Cup.

“I think the 2023 World Cup is a little bit far right now,” Rashid was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo on the sidelines of the Euro T20 Slam draft in London on Friday. “Right now, our key focus and target is the 2020 T20 World Cup in Australia. We will show how improved we are, we will show what we can do. We will have the best side and combination.

“We just need to keep improving day by day and keep bringing down the mistakes which we have made in the past. We have the skills, the ability and we have the best team for T20 especially.”

Afghanistan’s rise in international cricket has been nothing short of meteoric but the star leg-spinner feels his men now need to close down the gap on the top international sides.

“That is something that is a very big challenge for us. As I said before, we have the skills and the talent but we need to improve it.” Rashid stated. “We need to know how to play the big teams and what should be the proper preparation to take them now. As you could see in the World Cup, we struggled against the big teams.”

The 20-year-old feels Afghanistan need to play as much bilateral cricket against the top international sides over the next four years if they are to make a significant improvement in the 2023 ICC World Cup.

“Having the 2023 World Cup in the mind from here on, we should have proper preparation for the 50 overs,” he said. The more we play against the big teams, especially the top 10 teams, the better we will be. Looking forward to have more matches and series against all the major Test-playing countries. That is the only way you can improve your cricket.”

On Friday, the Afghan star was picked as the icon player for Rotterdam Rhinos for the inaugural Euro T20 Slam in the draft held at London. The six-team competition set in Ireland, Scotland and the Netherlands gets underway on Aug 30 and will run till Sept 22.

England World Cup-winning captain Eoin Morgan, ex-Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, former Aussie star Shane Watson and the current Pakistan duo of Mohammad Amir and Fakhar Zaman are some of the other stars who will be on show in the maiden edition of the T20 league.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2019