That’s a wrap from our coverage of this tri-nation series. Afghanistan players are soaking it all in, wearing their medals, posing with the trophy and celebrating a well-deserved victory. It’s been a pleasure bringing you all the action. From Rashad and myself, thanks for joining us. Take care and we’ll see you next time. Ciao!
Rahmat Shah, Afghanistan Captain: Absolutely, it’s a matter of pride. I was telling you that it is a great honour, and I congratulate all Afghans across the world on this victory. Our discussion was that we would keep rotating the strike and put the opposition under pressure. One of the reasons we won the final was that we didn’t lose wickets. We weren’t too concerned about hitting boundaries; we focused on rotating the strike. Whatever plan we make, whether in batting or bowling, we try to execute it calmly. It’s all about the work we put in. Inshallah, we will try our best to maintain this momentum.
Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe Captain: No, I wouldn’t say that. It feels disappointing that I was left alone, because cricket is never about one guy. There were a lot of good things that the other boys did as well. But as much as you congratulate us for making the final, that’s not how we want to play a final. This business of us making finals needs to stop. We addressed it in the changing room: once we get to the final, we have to win it. We have to win the trophy. Zimbabwe needs to change. We have made plenty of finals and just existed, and for me, the biggest disappointment of this tour has been that we’ve been 24 for three and 30 for three. That’s something we have addressed, but unfortunately, we haven’t got it right in three games, and that’s an area of concern. The team needed me to grind. When you grind and try to do the right things, I always say that cricket rewards you back. I just think we have to understand that we haven’t had a chance to acclimatise. We only got here two days before the first game. That’s an area we need to address with the board as well. Hopefully, when we come to the subcontinent, they can send us early so that we can get used to these conditions. These are alien conditions for us, especially at this time of year. It has been very hot and humid, and the body has struggled to cope with it. But for me personally, when I look back, the team needed me to grind. There has to be mental toughness. In the first game, I reckon Craig Ervine was batting on 30 when he tore his hamstring. I mean, he’s got a grade-one tear, but he batted on until he was on 90. That is what makes us a team. We grind and graft for one another. We put our team’s needs before ourselves, and today was no different for me. Hopefully, we can get over the injuries we’ve already had. If everybody’s fit, I feel the T20 series and the Test series should be more competitive than the ODI series against Afghanistan because we would have been here for at least 10 days, and I think that would give us enough time to acclimatise as well. I’m very hopeful that the T20 series and the Test match will be better contests, but we certainly found the ODI series tough, and unfortunately, I think three or four of our boys have been injured
Rashid Khan, Player of the Series: First of all, thanks for another Player of the Series award in ODIs. Nothing much, you know, I just try my best to maintain the consistency I have shown, keep working hard and keep repeating my performances. I always try my best to better my performance from the previous game. I think that’s the mentality I have, and I make sure I enjoy my game. That’s something that’s more important to me. It’s good morale for us as a team going into the T20 series. We haven’t had a great series against India, but we’ve learned a lot from it. The challenge for us is to manage ourselves as a team and perform well in T20s as well. We struggled against India, so we’ll try to improve day by day and game by game and carry this momentum into the T20 series. More importantly, our top order needs to take responsibility and take the game deeper. Another area where I feel we need to improve is the bowling department, especially the fast-bowling department. I think we have a lot of hard work to do. To win big events like ICC tournaments and the Asia Cup, we have to be very strong in these areas. As long as we work on them and improve, I think we can beat any side. We still have a lot of hard work to do and many areas to improve. We can’t say that we’re 100% ready or that we can beat any side. Playing in South Africa will be a challenge because we haven’t played much cricket there as a team. There are areas we need to improve, and we still have a lot of hard work to do to make sure we have a better World Cup than we did in 2023. It’s just the beginning, and these have been a couple of good series wins for us. But, as I said, we need to improve in several areas, both in batting and bowling, and figure out how we’re going to perform on the big stage
Ibrahim Zadran, Player of the Match: Bismillah. Yeah, the rhythm was there. I was trying to enjoy myself, find my rhythm and carry it into the T20 series. The 50-over series is finished, so I’m thankful that I performed well. I’m just going to try to give 100 percent. We’ve enjoyed it. We’ve had great partnerships in the past. We always try to stay calm and play according to the situation and conditions. We’ve enjoyed batting together and communicating, building small partnerships and targeting their bowlers. We just tried to make things easier, and that’s what we did. I was trying to stay calm in any kind of situation. Yes, we lost wickets, but I was just trying to stay at peace and focus on rotating the strike. After hitting boundaries, I tried to think about every single ball and keep rotating the strike. That’s what I did, and it gave me positive energy.
Afghanistan romp to the tri-series win with a one-sided affair against Zimbabwe, as once again their bowlers set it up beautifully. Rashid ran rampant and brought the innings to a grinding halt by picking up three wickets. Fazalhaq Farooqi picked up two wickets up front, and Bilal Sami cranked up the pace, creating havoc for the batters. Mohammad Nabi is as consistent as the sunshine and is always playing a key role in wins, as was the case today. He picked up two vital scalps and conceded just 2.50 runs per over. He is surely a legend of the game. Apart from captain Sikandar Raza, nobody came to the party, and as a result, Zimbabwe didn’t have enough runs on the board. In reply, Ibrahim Zadran, the elegant, classy opener, piled up 70 and remained unbeaten. Rahmanullah Gurbaz provided a flying start with a contribution of 36, and together, they had already broken the back of the chase. Captain Rahmat Shah, who has been as steady as a rock, added 43, propelling his side within touching distance of victory. Afghanistan seized the game without much fuss. They will get their hands on the silverware and will be very satisfied with their evolution as a side and how they are all working together like a well-oiled machine. They couldn’t have asked for a better start to their ODI World Cup preparations