Hashmatullah Shahidi previews Afghanistan's Champions Trophy opener against South Africa
20/02/2025
icc25
20/02/2025
icc25
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00:00Since 2019 to 2024, Afghanistan team played only five ODIs versus South Africa and only
00:24won two matches.
00:25Is your team under pressure?
00:27Bismillah Rahman Rahim.
00:312019, and now it's too much difference.
00:34And just recently, we beat them in Sharjah 2-1.
00:39So we have that confidence with us.
00:41And we are not under pressure anyway, because right now,
00:50we are focusing what we can do in this tournament.
00:53And I believe that our team is more ready for this tournament.
01:00And we are focusing on our own team.
01:03So there is no pressure on us.
01:07Mr. Shahidi, this is the first time you have experienced an ICC event in Pakistan.
01:13You have played against 12 players from all over Pakistan.
01:16And this is the first time you have played in an ICC event in Pakistan.
01:20You have a lot of experience, and you have played in Lahore as well.
01:25You have a lot of experience.
01:27And basically, like what I said, Lalo Khan, you have a lot of fans.
01:3270% of people in Balochistan are your fans.
01:37What is the message you would like to send to those businessmen and people who are your fans?
01:44Why do you ask?
01:49You may not remember, but this is the first time we are having an ICC event in Pakistan.
01:55We have played here before.
01:59We have played a lot of games here in PSL.
02:03We have also played here in Lahore before.
02:08And another important thing is that this condition is very similar to our own country.
02:15And in general, our team is very good in Asian games.
02:21And we play a lot of games in Dubai or in India.
02:26So there is not much difference in these games.
02:28So, God willing, we will not have any problems.
02:31We will have an advantage because we have good spanners in our team.
02:35So, if you look at the condition here, it is very similar to our own game.
02:40So, God willing, we will try to be very good and strong in our game, and the result will be good.
02:48And as you said, here in Balochistan and in other parts of Pakistan, we have a lot of fans.
02:56And most of the Afghans live here.
03:00So, God willing, everyone will come here and support our games.
03:05We have always supported you in every way possible.
03:08So, God willing, everyone will come here and support us.
03:12Mr. Shahidi, good evening.
03:14Pakistan and other countries are in a lot of trouble.
03:17Other countries want to bring more people to their countries and they are trying to stop this.
03:22Afghanistan is the only country that does not want to stop this.
03:26It has not been able to do this in its own country.
03:28A lot of our fans have retired and have not been able to come to their countries.
03:33Mr. Shahidi, how much do you hope that the ICC event or even the International Cricket will be held in your country?
03:41And if not, how do you hope that this dream will be fulfilled with retirement?
03:45God willing, I hope that there will be a lot of people coming to Afghanistan.
03:51First of all, I would like to tell you that I have heard a lot of people in the media
03:56talking about our grounds and saying that there are no facilities and facilities there.
04:01Why should we go to other countries?
04:03We have a lot of facilities and facilities.
04:10We have regular stadiums in four zones.
04:16If we can hold the ICC International Cricket, we will have a regular ground in Kabul
04:23and another stadium will be built soon in Lahore, God willing, it will be built soon.
04:28There are academies everywhere, but so far, there have been no games.
04:34For a long time, the situation in Afghanistan has been like this.
04:38God willing, I am sure that there will be a lot of teams coming there to play cricket.
04:45I hope that this dream will come true and we will win all the trophies there.
04:53And I hope that our fans will come to the stadium and watch us play.
04:58What are the preparations like?
05:00You played your first practice match in Lahore and you lost it.
05:04Then you lost to South Africa in the warm-up match.
05:07In fact, you lost to New Zealand.
05:10How many preparations are there?
05:12You are playing in Pakistan.
05:14How are the preparations?
05:17And how satisfied are you that the Afghan team can go to the final four in this event?
05:40We were working. We had a camp in Dubai.
05:44We prepared ourselves there.
05:46About warm-up games, our aim was to just give everyone a chance
05:53and make them prepare and get used to this condition.
05:59Our aim was that we were not looking for results.
06:04In the New Zealand game also, we were just trying to give a chance to the bowlers
06:09and get them used to this condition.
06:12That was our aim.
06:14We are totally prepared and I believe that we have a good side.
06:18These conditions are also suitable for us.
06:21As a captain, as a leader, I am very confident that we can make it to the next round.
06:29Inshallah, we can only work hard for that.
06:34I know that we are capable of being in the next round and hopefully that we make it.
06:41Hashmet, you have given so many answers in Pashto.
06:45I don't know if this question has been covered or not.
06:48But if you could answer it in Urdu or English.
06:50There is a big fan following of the Afghan team in Karachi.
06:54Even yesterday, when your players came for training,
06:57a lot of people were chanting slogans for Rashid and Nabi.
07:01How does it feel that you are getting a lot of love in Karachi?
07:06Even in your warm-up match, a lot of Afghan fans were there.
07:11Secondly, in the ICC tournaments, you played the semifinals of T20 World Cup.
07:17You are seen as a favorite.
07:19The way you have evolved,
07:21how do you see this journey?
07:23Your fans want you to win a trophy.
07:52It feels good and it gives us confidence that we have supporters here.
07:56About our performance, we are doing very good.
08:03In this tournament, we are here to compete.
08:09Our aim is to win the final.
08:12We are not here just to participate in this tournament.
08:17We are definitely 100% looking to win this event.
08:21It's good at the same time because we played a lot of quality cricket
08:27from the last two years.
08:29It's a good chance for us because the boys are very experienced.
08:34This condition is also suitable for us.
08:37We have a good chance.
08:39Let's start from tomorrow.
08:42Hopefully, we start with a win and go with the same momentum throughout the tournament.
08:48Ashmit, you are progressing very well in white-ball cricket.
08:52Whether it's T20 or One Day.
08:54But recently, from the Champions Trophy,
08:56some teams have said that the match against Afghanistan should be boycotted.
09:03Psychologically, how much pressure does it put on the team's preparation?
09:08Because you play so well, but on one issue,
09:10some people are saying that the match should not be played with you.
09:13What would you say to this?
09:40Especially from the last three years, our performance on the ground is very good.
09:44We can only control the things which are on the ground.
09:49We focus on that.
09:52Here also, we just do the controllable things.
09:56Hi.
09:58You guys did a very good job in T20 and World Cup.
10:04Both T20 World Cup and ODI.
10:09How do you follow this?
10:13How do you forward this trophy and these matches in Pakistan?
10:19I think we played good cricket in the last two World Cups.
10:24But now, that's a part of the history.
10:27We can only have that in our mind.
10:31But now, looking forward, we are not the team that what we achieved.
10:36We rely on that.
10:38That's past now.
10:40Our aim is to improve day by day as a team.
10:44Whenever we get a chance and whenever we play right now in this kind of events
10:50like Champions Trophy, World Cups,
10:52we will try to improve our performance.
10:56Last time, we played the semi-final.
11:00In this Champions Trophy, hopefully, we make it to the finals and win the trophy.
11:04That's what we are looking for.
11:06I know we are capable.
11:08We are just here for the trophy.
11:16Hi, Hashmat.
11:18As we talked about the presence of so many Afghan fans here in Pakistan,
11:23as we all know, this is not a very good time for Afghans in Pakistan.
11:29Coincidentally, you guys are playing for the first time in this country.
11:33In a proper tournament.
11:35How does that emotionally charge you to do well over here
11:40or probably make it to the knockouts or even probably take the trophy home?
11:44As I said, we can control the things in the ground.
11:51We worked very hard for this event.
11:54Everyone is well prepared.
11:57We have world-class players in the team.
12:02I think we will compete here.
12:05We will give our 100% to go with the best result.
12:10As a team, we are looking to win the trophy.
12:15We will just play match by match.
12:18Now, it's focused on the first game.
12:21We will not look too much ahead.
12:26We will not look too much ahead
12:28because we have a game tomorrow
12:30and our focus will be how to beat South Africa tomorrow.
12:33Hopefully, we start well tomorrow
12:36and take that momentum moving forward for the next games.
12:43My question to you is, what message would you like to give to Afghan fans?
12:48We see that Afghan fans are very emotional on the ground.
12:52They are very eager to win.
12:55What message would you like to give to them?
12:59After Afghanistan, most of the Afghans stay in Pakistan.
13:03Do you feel any home support in tomorrow's match?
13:09When you started playing cricket in Afghanistan,
13:14you used to play in Karachi.
13:17There is a lot of support here.
13:19Do you feel any home support in tomorrow's match?
13:28I think a lot of Afghans live here.
13:33Last time in Asia Cup, we saw some Afghan fans coming here.
13:40Hopefully, the stadium will be full.
13:47I know that a lot of Pashtuns are following,
13:51who live here in Pakistan.
13:54Hopefully, their support is also with us.
13:57Looking forward, inshallah,
14:00people back home in Afghanistan and outside the country,
14:04like living in Europe countries and other countries,
14:07will also support us.
14:09We keep that in our mind that they will support us
14:13and we will give our 100% to them to give them a good result.
14:21Every country's people are happy when their team wins.
14:27Afghans are the same.
14:29The way other country people are happy for the win,
14:34they are also the same.
14:37My question is also related to the crowd.
14:42All the teams in the world are playing cricket at their home ground.
14:47You choose UAE or India.
14:51How much do you want to play cricket at your home ground?
14:55If there is any work on it,
14:57how long should we expect the team from Afghanistan to play cricket at their home ground?
15:03I have answered this in Pashto,
15:07but let me say it again.
15:10Because in media, I heard a lot from other countries
15:14that they don't have facilities,
15:16they don't have stadiums,
15:18they don't have academies.
15:20It's totally wrong.
15:21We have good facilities.
15:23We have cricket academies.
15:24We have HPC High Performance Center in Kabul,
15:27in Jalalabad.
15:29We have stadiums in every zone of Afghanistan.
15:33We have the facilities to call a team to come to Afghanistan.
15:40But in our country, there were some security issues.
15:47That's why other countries were not coming.
15:52But hopefully, as soon as possible,
15:56that one of the countries come to Afghanistan,
16:00you will see the crowd also.
16:03When we play domestic cricket,
16:05the stadiums are full.
16:08Even people wait outside the stadium
16:10and try to come and watch the domestic game.
16:13More than 50,000, 40,000, or 30,000 people
16:17are coming for the finals of the Spaghizza event.
16:21I know that if any team comes to Afghanistan,
16:25there will be thousands of people, fans,
16:27come and arrive to the stadium
16:29because there is a lot of craze of cricket.
16:31There are a lot of people who love cricket.
16:34So hopefully that day comes,
16:37and hopefully it comes soon.