Hashmatullah Shahidi previews Afghanistan's Champions Trophy opener against South Africa

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Hashmatullah Shahidi previews Afghanistan's Champions Trophy opener against South Africa  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.

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