Afghanistan’s captain Rashid Khan says his group haven’t any “particular targets” regardless of producing groundbreaking performances in latest ICC international occasions, forward of a T20 worldwide tri-series beginning Friday.
Rashid’s males face Pakistan within the opening recreation in Sharjah, with the United Arab Emirates the opposite facet participating within the occasion which serves as a warm-up for subsequent month’s Asia Cup, additionally within the UAE.
Afghanistan reached the semi-finals of final 12 months’s T20 World Cup in america and the Caribbean, and narrowly missed out on reaching the final 4 on the ODI Champions Trophy in Pakistan earlier in 2025.
These performances adopted a powerful exhibiting on the 2023 one-day World Cup, when the Afghans produced assertion wins over England, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
“We shouldn’t have particular targets, and we don’t wish to put further stress on our gamers,” Rashid stated Thursday when requested if Afghanistan are concentrating on the Asia Cup title.
“Our goal is to play the model of cricket we now have performed over time. For us, the primary goal is to place in 200% effort on the bottom,” he added.
“I believe we now have been doing effectively within the ICC occasions and though we’ve not performed T20I cricket over the previous few months, the blokes have been taking part in in T20 leagues all over the world and that has helped.”
Afghanistan beat Pakistan 2-1 in a T20I collection on the identical venue in 2023.
The 16-man Afghan squad for the tri-series consists of fast-rising thriller spinner AM Ghazanfar together with fellow spin bowlers Noor Ahmad, Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid.
The Asia Cup will get below manner on September 9, as groups ramp up their preparations for the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
Opposite to Afghanistan, Pakistan’s fortunes are dipping after they crashed out of the final T20 World Cup within the group stage earlier than failing to win a match on the Champions Trophy.
This 12 months they misplaced a T20 collection in Bangladesh 2-1 however overcame the West Indies by the identical margin.
Underneath new captain Salman Agha, Pakistan are going by a transition with former skippers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan out of the T20 squad.
“We are attempting to construct a group and this tri-series after which the Asia Cup shall be a superb alternative to attain that,” stated Agha.
“We all know each these occasions shall be difficult however we’re prepared.”
All three groups within the tri-series will play one another twice, with the highest two to face off in a remaining on September 7.
In addition to Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UAE, the Asia Cup will even embrace defending champions India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman and Hong Kong.
