'Against quality spinners you have to read them from their hand' - Sachin Tendulkar analyses England's loss to Afghanistan

World Cup 2023 got its first major upset as Afghanistan got the better of defending champions England by 69 runs in a riveting clash in Delhi on Sunday, October 15. This was also Afghanistan's first win against England overall. Defending a target of 285 runs, the Afghan spinners made use of the conditions and caused England all sorts of problems.

The spin troika of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mohammad Nabi were exceptional, picking up eight wickets between them. The pitch at the Arun Jaitley Stadium wasn't turning square but there was enough assistance for the spinners and the quality of the Afghan spinners came to the fore. The legendary Sachin Tendulkar congratulated Afghanistan on their famous win and also pointed out that England's batters made the mistake of trying to read the spinners off the track and not from the hand.

"Wonderful all-round effort by Afghanistan led by a solid knock from @RGurbaz_21. Bad day for @ECB_cricket.
Against quality spinners, you have to read them from their hand, which the England batters failed to do. They read them off the pitch instead, which I felt led to their downfall," Tendulkar mentioned in his post.

"Loved the energy they carried on the field. Well played @ACBofficials!" the Master Blaster further added in the post on his official 'X' account.

Young Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who is touted to be a batting superstar, earned praise from the 'Master Blaster' for his phenomenal innings of 80 off 57 balls in the ODI World Cup 2023 encounter. 

Wonderful all-round effort by Afghanistan led by a solid knock from @RGurbaz_21.

Bad day for @ECB_cricket.
Against quality spinners, you have to read them from their hand, which the England batters failed to do. They read them off the pitch instead, which I felt led to their… pic.twitter.com/O4TACfKh21

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 15, 2023

Rashid Khan finds form against England

The last time Afghanistan and England met in a World Cup game in 2019, Rashid leaked 110 runs in his nine overs. Four years later, against the same opponent, the spin wizard produced a superb effort, finishing with figures of 3/37. He fittingly took the last England wicket to fall and gave Afghanistan their finest win in world cricket.

This was a much-needed outing for Rashid after he performed nowhere near his lofty standards in the first couple of ODI World Cup games. The 25-year-old also contributed important 23 runs off 22 balls with the bat in the first innings. Rashid's return to form will give Hashmatullah Shahidi and Co. a lot of confidence going forward.

Also Check: Most Wickets in ODI World Cup 2023