A usually calm and composed customer Mohammad Nabi looked visibly upset after a journalist asked him a question on their diplomatic relation with Pakistan after Taliban's takeover. The Afghan skipper insisted on sticking to questions related to the sport, adding that his side has come “here for the World Cup”.
Afghanistan on Friday suffered a hard-fought defeat to their Asian neighbours Pakistan. Power-hitter Asif Ali once again played the finisher's role to perfection, smashing four sixes in an over to power his side to a five-wicket win.
"There's a lot of positive things in these games. We take the positive things and we have three more games, inshallah we'll do well, and now our team is in high morale."
"I think we can just stick to cricket, leaving out the situation. It will be better. We are here for the World Cup and we have come full of confidence and preparation," Nabi said during post-match media interaction.
Poked further on the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan after the change of government, Nabi said: "It's not a cricket question", before leaving the arena.
Nabi defends his decision to bring Rashid late
The loss to Pakistan was Afghanistan's first defeat of the tournament in Group 2. They now face tougher challenges ahead with matches against India and New Zealand.
Nabi also appealed to Afghan fans to not breach the security after thousands of ticketless fans travelled to the venue and then attempted to force entry into the stadium. The spectators tried to climb the fence of the stadium before the security staff intervened. "For the Afghan fans, please buy a ticket and come to the stadium. Don't repeat again. This is not good," Nabi said.
The 36-year-old leader also defended his decision to introduce ace tweaker Rashid Khan late into the attack. Defending 148, Afghanistan brought in the leg-spinner in the 11th over. Rashid, who registered figures of 2/26, dismissed Mohammad Hafeez (10) before taking the crucial scalp of skipper Babar Azam (51).
"I think it's not too late after 10 overs. He bowled really well, and he restricted them quite well. ...that's why at the end they have 12 balls for 24 runs. It meant he restricted them quite well," Nabi further said.
