Afghanistan captain: Bowlers did not take responsibility

An Afghanistan batsman getting bowled.

Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib has expressed unhappiness over the performance of his bowlers, after they faced a 34-run (DLS method) defeat against Sri Lanka on Tuesday, saying that the bowlers did not take the responsibility.

"The wicket was suitable for the seamers, but we did not bowl in the right areas, especially in the start of the innings. I think the bowlers didn't take the responsibility at the start of the day, so maybe we missed something," ICC quoted Naib, as saying.

Sri Lanka, who faced a humiliating 10-wicket defeat during their opening match of the World Cup against New Zealand, refined their batting against Afghanistan as they racked up 92 runs on the board for the opening wicket.

However, Afghanistan made a strong comeback in the middle overs as Sri Lanka were all out on 201 runs. Mohammad Nabi contributed a lot in Afghanistan's lethal bowling attack as he got hold of four Sri Lanka batsmen and conceded just 30 runs in his nine overs.

Rashid Khan's spell also strengthened his side's bowling attack as he took two wickets but more importantly, he conceded just 17 runs in his 7.5 overs. Whereas, Hamid Hassan sent one batsman back to the pavilion and gave away 53 runs in seven overs.

"We got it right in the middle to bowl them for 200 something, but still they scored a lot for this kind of surface. It [201] was too much. But it's good, especially Nabi and Hamid [Hassan], how they bowled showed what we missed something in the start," he said.

After Sri Lanka posted a target of 202 runs for Afghanistan, the latter only managed to score 152 runs and secured a 34-run victory.

Earlier, before the start of the World Cup, when the Afghanistan team was announced and Gulbadan Naib was named the captain, there were reports that senior player Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi weren't happy with the decision.

However, Afghanistan chief selector Dawlat Khan Ahmadzai Tuesday justified the unexpected sacking of ODI skipper Asghar Afghan ahead of the World Cup, saying the decision was taken looking at the long-term future of the team.

"We realised that we can't win the World Cup at this moment under Asghar's captaincy or anyone else who would have been in charge. We made the decision not just thinking about this World Cup, we are thinking about the 2023 edition.

"We will be getting 10 matches with full members and we feel it will provide perfect training for the new captain (Gulbadin Naib)," said Ahmadzai, who is a former Afghanistan fast bowler

With inputs from ANI and PTI

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