Asghar Stanikzai requests ICC for series against full members

Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai has sent out an appeal to the ICC in order to get more matches against full member nations. It is also no secret that the Afghans are nurturing new talents among their ranks, especially with the likes of young leg-spinner Rashid Khan.

The ICC has reduced the 2019 World Cup in England from 14 teams to just 10 teams, a move that means that the associate nations will not feature in the tournament. Despite losing the two matches they have played thus far, Afghanistan has been in splendid form, not rolling over against oppositions such as Sri Lanka and South Africa. Their exploits have been endorsed by the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Michael Vaughan.

“A proud moment for us that we are getting praise from legends like Tendulkar.

“Definitely, we need support from the ICC. We are playing good cricket. If you see our recent performance we have beaten Zimbabwe in their own backyard and in the UAE,” Stanikzai said.

“So we are showing that we are a competitive side. In this World Cup, we are not just here to make up the numbers. Our games were not one sided. Our aim is to win at least a match against a full member. All teams are scared of us. They are wary that we can beat them.”

However, Asghar Stanikzai has also stated that their performances are on the upward curve and that they need to play more full member nations in order to unearth cricketing talent in their country.

“We are eager to play in each and every World Cup and we have requested the ICC to give us more exposure and allow big teams to play a series with us.”

“We need to be harnessed to perform better and we need more matches. We need series against full members to improve,” the 29-year-old.

“We are working hard, our domestic cricket structure is high. Infrastructure is being built. We have made good progress.”

“Against Sri Lanka, poor fielding let us down. We gave away some loose boundaries. Chasing 210 against South Africa was tough. AB de Villers got two chances, had we taken any one of them then the target would have come down to 170-180. That would have been a chase-able target,” he said.

“Looking forward to the England challenge. Definitely more pressure on England. We are eager to win at least a game against a big team.”

“We haven’t set any total in mind. We will look at the wicket tomorrow and decide how we need to bat and what sort of score you need.”

“Prabhakar has good knowledge of Indian conditions. He works very hard at the nets, gives valuable inputs and also helps in fielding. We have a great coaching team comprising Inzamam and Prabhakar that is helping us immensely,” the right-hand batsman said.