Axar Patel press conference: “We see them as a team, we don’t see a rivalry” after India beat Pakistan
Afghanistan asked UAE to bat first in Delhi and restricted them to 160/9 in 20 overs. Rashid is already the highest wicket-taker in T20 Internationals, confirming his status as one of the most dangerous spinners in the game.However, the record comes as Afghanistan come to terms with an emotional setback in the tournament. Their dramatic double Super Over loss to South Africa is still weighing heavily on the team. Ahead of the UAE match, Rashid admitted the defeat was hard to take, saying: “It’s quite heartbreaking. We’ve been working very hard for the last year and a half… with our hopes of going deep into the T20 World Cup, but sometimes it doesn’t work out. The most important thing is the mindset we played with and the effort we put in in our first two games.”Despite the disappointment, Rashid believes there are lessons to be learned. “It will help us. It’s not just the upcoming games but the upcoming cricket that we have. So we can take a lot of positives from these two games,” he said.Rashid also spoke about how painful defeats tend to linger, recalling Afghanistan’s loss to Australia in the 2023 ODI World Cup. “It’s very difficult to lose a game that’s in our hands, like a couple of times, and then it just slips out of your hands. It doesn’t go out of your mind,” he said, adding that the 2024 World T20 rematch helped erase that memory.He also highlighted a bigger problem for Afghanistan – the lack of regular matches against top teams. “As a team, if you don’t get a chance to play against a big team regularly, that’s what happens,” Rashid said, stressing that the limited exposure makes World Cup matches extremely challenging.