T20 World Cup 2024: Rashid Khan prioritises self-belief as Afghanistan look to build on impressive ODI World Cup performance

Rashid Khan is set to lead Afghanistan for the first time in the T20 World Cup 2024. This is going to be his fourth T20 World Cup appearance and seventh for the Blue Tigers.

Afghanistan are placed in Group C, which is being referred to by many as the Group of Death. West Indies, New Zealand, Uganda, and Papua New Guinea are the other teams in the group. Only two teams from each group will advance to the Super Eight stage of the showpiece event. Afghanistan's passage to the next stage is not going to be easy, with the likes of the West Indies and New Zealand in the group. However, Rashid isn't too perturbed as he feels that the wickets will suit their bowling line-up comprising a plethora of mystery spinners.

The talismanic all-rounder asserted that even if the wickets are flat, Afghanistan's mystery bowlers can make life difficult for the opposition batters with their skillsets.

"The confidence (to progress to Super Eight stage) is there because we have already beaten West Indies a few times in T20s. We beat them in ODIs as well. And, more importantly, there are seven to eight guys playing in the IPL, which is the best preparation ahead of the World Cup. And the conditions in the World Cup may be good for the spinners - at least, that is my expectation. Even if it is flat wickets, the kind of bowling unit we have, we don't rely much on the wicket. We have a fair few mystery spinners who make it harder for the batter to score freely," Rashid told ESPNcricinfo.

"I have also bowled a lot in the CPL. [Mohammad] Nabi, Mujeeb [Ur Rahman] and Noor [Ahmad], too, have bowled on the wickets in the Caribbean and we have all found enough spin and are well-versed with the conditions. So we have that advantage," he added.

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Rashid Khan wants Afghanistan to have same self-belief that helped them in ODI World Cup 2023

Afghanistan impressed experts and fans alike with their performance in the ODI World Cup 2023. They beat England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands and finished sixth in the 10-team tournament. Rashid said they had the belief in them to beat any side in the tournament. He urged his team to once again have faith in their abilities, as they look to make the knockouts of the T20 World Cup for the first time.

"But the most important thing is: how we are going there mentally. Do we have that kind of belief where we can beat New Zealand? Do we have that kind of belief where we can beat West Indies? As soon as that belief comes, you can beat any side. That's the kind of belief we had in the ODI World Cup last year in India. Since we beat England, we said we can beat any side," Rashid stated.

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Afghanistan begin their campaign on Tuesday, June 4, as they take on debutants Uganda at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.