In a historic moment for the country, the Afghanistan cricket team stormed into the semifinals of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 in Kingstown on Tuesday, June 25. Rashid Khan-led side entered the knockout stages of the ICC World Cup events for the first time in a short reign in world cricket.
Afghanistan defeated Bangladesh on the DLS method in the last Super 8 round game to secure the remaining spot in the semi-final round. A win for Afghanistan famously eliminated the title favourites Australia from the ninth edition of the tournament in the USA and West Indies.
After the famous win at Arnos Vale Ground, the cricket fraternity around the globe showered praises on the Afghanistan team. In a video shared by the Afghanistan Cricket Board, Amir Khan Muttaqi, Afghanistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, also congratulated the team captain Rashid Khan over a video call. The Taliban minister seemed jubilant while speaking with Rashid in their native language Pashto and congratulated him for leading the team to unbelievable achievement on the biggest stage in world cricket.
"The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country, Mr Amir Khan Muttaqi, congratulated Rashid Khan, the captain of the Afghan team, for reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup and wished the team more success," ACB's X post said. "You can listen to their full telephone conversation here."
After the game, Rashid termed their win as an 'unbelievable achievement' and said that his team wanted to make Afghan people back home happy.
"It's a dream for us to be in the semi-finals," Rashid Khan said during the post-match presentation. "We wanted to make people back home happy, that was the discussion we had and everyone did a wonderful job. It's a massive celebration back home. It's a big achievement for us as well. We have done that at the U-19 level but at this World Cup, I don't have any words to describe the feeling back home. We have to go into the semis with a very clear mind and make sure we enjoy the occasion."
Rashid and his team will be next seen in action against South Africa in the first semi-final fixture at Brian Lara Stadium in Tarouba on Wednesday, June 26.
