 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Former England captain Michael Vaughan put the blame on alleged 'India-centric' scheduling for Afghanistan's disappointing show during the semifinals of the ICC T20 World Cup against South Africa.
The big match inexperience of Afghanistan was visible as their batting line-up folded for just 56 runs thanks to fiery spells from pacers Kagiso Rabada and Marco Jansen in the powerplay and Tabraiz Shamsi's spin. Proteas, on the other hand, have overcome a seven-game winless streak in the semifinals of any ICC Cricket World Cup and are set to play either India or England in a historic final.
During the semifinal clash, Vaughan pointed out that Afghanistan faced a flight delay while travelling to Trinidad, which gave players no time to put in hard yards in the nets and get used to a new venue, calling the situation as a "utter lack of respect to players".
Afghanistan had reached the semifinals on Monday after defeating Bangladesh.
"So Afghanistan qualified for the WC semi, winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hour flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players, I am afraid," tweeted Vaughan.
As the wickets tumbled down, Vaughan once again tweeted that it was South Africa and Afghanistan that should have been playing in Guyana in a morning game, while India and England should have clashed in the first semifinal at night. He called the scheduling "geared towards India" and "unfair on others".
"Surely this semi should have been the Guyana one .. but because the whole event is geared towards India it's so unfair on others .. #T20IWorldCup," he tweeted.