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Afghanistan created history in the recently-concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 by qualifying for the semifinal. The road to semifinal was not easy for Afghanistan as they met a resilient Bangladesh in the must-win Super 8 encounter. As the stakes were high, captain Rashid Khan lost his cool at teammate Karim Janat for denying him strike in the final over of the innings. A couple of weeks after the thrilling game against Bangladesh, Janat says there is no love lost between the two and they are like brothers who celebrate each other’s success.
"The ball went to the fielder and we couldn't get two runs as a result. That is why he [Rashid] was a bit disturbed," Janat told Cricbuzz. "And during a match, a lot of things like that can happen. Like the bowlers can get angry if there is a misfield but the important thing is how you adapt and stay as a unit.
"There are no issues as far as the unity of our team is concerned. We are like brothers and more importantly we celebrate each other's success and that is why we did well. We don't have any ego. Cricket is a game played by 11 players and a match cannot be won through the performance of one or two players alone.”
As Rashid threw his bat on the pitch and did not even make eye contact with Janant after the incident, the ICC reprimanded him for breaching the Code of Conduct and handed one demerit point.
Janat lauds Rashid’s captaincy
Afghanistan were knocked out of the tournament as South Africa bowled them out for a paltry 57 on a spicy wicket that was criticised by many. In the aftermath, Janat hailed Rashid as leader for carrying the team in last couple of years and making juniors feel comfortable.
"Whoever is the captain, we need to walk behind him and there is no point seeing who the captain was earlier and who will come afterwards. As a captain Rashid is very good and the whole world have seen that because it is not easy to reach the semi-final by beating good teams unless the leader is good.
"When Rashid took over as captain two years ago, he picked 20 to 25 players and he has been carrying them for the last two years. There are young and senior players and he chose the best 15 for the World Cup from that group. And once you carry the juniors with you, they learn something and get comfortable... we will be playing the next World Cup with these young players and they will have learned something and be better prepared," the 25-year-old.
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