Asia Cup: Rashid Khan says Afghanistan have 'no specific targets'
What's the story
Afghanistan's cricket captain, Rashid Khan, has said that his team doesn't have any "specific targets" for the upcoming Asia Cup 2025. The statement comes ahead of a T20 international tri-series against Pakistan and the UAE in Sharjah. The tournament will be a preparation for next month's Asia Cup, which will also be held in the UAE. Here are further details.
Past achievements
Afghanistan's recent success in ICC global events
Afghanistan have been on a roll in recent ICC global events, reaching the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup and coming close to the last four at the ODI Champions Trophy earlier this year. They also had a stellar run at the 2023 one-day World Cup, where they registered impressive victories over England, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Focus shift
Rashid on team's approach for Asia Cup
"We do not have specific targets, and we do not want to put extra pressure on our players," Rashid said in a press conference. "Our target is to play the brand of cricket we have played over the years. For us, the main target is to put in 200 per cent effort on the ground. I think we have been doing well in the ICC events, and although we haven't played T20I cricket over the last few months, the guys have been playing in T20 leagues around the world and that has helped."
Team composition
Afghan squad for tri-series
Afghanistan announced their squad for the upcoming T20I tournament in Sharjah. As mentioned, the team will play against Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) starting Friday. The selection is nearly identical to their Asia Cup squad, with Naveen-ul-Haq being the only exclusion from this tri-series. Squad: Rashid Khan (captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Darwish Rasooli, Sediqullah Atal, Azmatullah Omarzai, Karim Janat, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Sharafuddin Ashraf, Mohammad Ishaq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, AM Ghazanfar, Noor Ahmad, Fareed Ahmad, Abdollah Ahmadzai, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Upcoming matches
Format and schedule of the tri-series
The tri-series will follow a double round-robin format with each team playing the others twice. The top two will clash in a final on September 7. Afghanistan will face Pakistan in the tournament opener, before taking on UAE. If they reach the final, they will have just one day to rest before starting their Asia Cup campaign against Hong Kong on September 9.