Afghanistan captain Nabi hopeful of good show

Nabi was named captain of the final Afghanistan squad after all-rounder Rashid Khan declined the role alleging that he was not consulted while selecting the team. The 36-year-old Nabi is however not new to captaincy, having led the side from 2013 to 2015.

“Yeah, captaincy is a tough job. I will try my best to lead the team at the World Cup and perform well at the tournament. I am really excited to play as a captain in this event,” said Nabi. Afghanistan will play its first ‘Super 12’ match on October 25 against a yet-to-be-decided qualifier from Round One.

It is pooled in Group 2 alongside India, Pakistan, New Zealand and two qualifiers. The team has made it to the World Cup despite the Taliban takeover of the country, but Nabi steered clear of the matter. “The team is brilliant and has been training for the last one-and-a-half months. There was a little bit of struggle to get the visas done, so we couldn’t arrive in the UAE early. The boys were practising in Qatar,” said Nabi.

“The players will adjust as the weather is almost the same in both the UAE and Qatar. We will try our best to perform well and go until the end,” added the all-rounder.