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Afghanistan confident but not cocky before England showdown

February 25, 2025 20:44 IST

Afghanistan lost their opening match against South Africa by 107 runs but they will have to win both their remaining matches to stay in contention for a spot in the semis

Afghanistan lost their opening match against South Africa by 107 runs but they will have to win both their remaining matches to stay in contention for a spot in the semis

Afghanistan had sent ripples in the cricketing world by upsetting Jos Buttler's England by 69 runs in the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India and captain  Hashmatullah  Shahidi expressed confidence going into the match on Wednesday despite an opening loss to South Africa by 107 runs.

"In 2023 we had a good game against England and we beat them. We have that confidence with us, but that's part of history and now we have to go to ground with the new mindset and with the new planning.

 

"We all know that England is one of the best teams, so it's a tough challenge for us. But we are ready for any kind of challenge and we worked hard to achieve -- to reach this level and we are ready to play every game in a positive way.

Despite the big loss, Shahidi said he had full faith in his batters to take the team towards the business end of the tournament.

"I believe that we did really well in the recent past as a batting unit, but in the last South Africa game, the way we expect as a team from our batting lineup, we didn't play that way.

"I believe that still we have a good batting unit and we have quality players. We have two more games, and we have a big chance to win those games."

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