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Afghanistan’s leg-spinner Rashid Khan expressed his delight at the support his team received during their stunning victory over defending champions England at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday, October 15. This match between Afghanistan and England turned out to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest, upsets in the history of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup there was a huge crowd to witness it and the support for Afghanistan was in unprecedented numbers.
Despite being considered underdogs, Afghanistan fired up for the high-stakes game against the World Cup 2019 champions. They were helped by Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s impressive innings of 80 runs and a solid fifty from Ikram Alikhil in the middle order to post a competitive total of 285. The Kotla pitch differed from those used in other games, providing support to spinners from both sides and movement for Afghanistan’s pacers, especially in the evening.
Fazalhaq Farooqi’s dismissal of Jonny Bairstow early in the innings boosted Afghanistan’s confidence, and their bowlers continued to maintain pressure on England’s batters. The trio of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi, and Rashid Khan delivered a masterclass in spin bowling, choking England’s run flow. Naveen-ul-Haq’s delivery to dismiss Jos Buttler was hailed as a work of art as it swung right back into him and went through his defences crashing into the stumps.
As Afghanistan closed in on the victory, the crowd’s support for them was loud and clear. While there were a few Afghan fans in the stands at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the overall atmosphere was a testament to the spirit of cricket.
Rashid Khan shared on X, saying, “Delhi sach mein dil walon ki hai. A huge thank you to all the fans at the stadium who supported us and kept us going throughout the game. And to all our supporters around the world, thank you for your love.”.
Delhi sach mein dil walon ki hai 🙌
A huge thank you to all the fans at the stadium who supported us and kept us going through out the game 🙏
And to all our supporters around the 🌍 thank you for your love 💙
— Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19) October 16, 2023
This is not the first time the English have been at the receiving end of an embarrassing defeat by a relatively weaker side at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
They have faced defeat against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, and Ireland in the previous editions of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
This victory was only Afghanistan’s second win in the World Cup and their first since 2015, bringing their overall tournament record to 2 wins out of 18 matches.
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