Brian Lara paid glorifying tribute by Rashid Khan after Afghanistan qualifies for T20 World Cup semifinal 2024

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan, who entered the history books earlier today, revealed the chat he had with former West Indies batter Brian Lara.

Rashid Khan revealed the conversation after helping Afghanistan script history in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. The leg-spinner has become the first captain in Afghani cricket history to have led the National side to the semi-final of a major competition. Last year they had come extremely close to reaching the last fours of the ODI World Cup but they couldn't.

From getting slashed by Australia to beating them: Story of Giant Killers Afghanistan since November 2023

Australia's Glenn Maxwell had stood in front of Afghanistan like the Great Wall of China, scoring 200 runs himself during the chase of 291 runs. Rashid Khan and co. were guaranteed to win the match after 7 wickets fell in no time with Maxwell being the only recognized batter to have been at the crease.

From a winning situation, Afghanistan lost the match which could have given them the ticket to the semi-finals and would have also denied Australia. Pat Cummins' side would have got eliminated from the league stages itself but that innings from Glenn Maxwell saved them.

Heartbreak became the theme for Afghanistan after that but it was a positive sign for them. That they are making progress with their hard work and constant dedication to improve their cricketing prowess. All of that came into life this month, roughly 8 months after that loss to Australia.

Captained by Rashid Khan, the Afghani team defeated the Aussies in one of their 3 Super 8 matches a couple of days ago after losing to India. It was no longer considered as an upset and that speaks volumes about how far they have come as a good cricketing team.

A win against the Kangaroos made their route to the semi-finals very easy and all they needed was a win over Bangladesh to go through. And so Rashid Khan's side did. They defeated the Bangla Tigers in a very marginal contest and sealed their first-ever entry to the last fours of any ICC competition, be it T20Is or ODIs.

If it was asked anyone before the World Cup whether Afghanistan would reach the semis or not, then everyone would have counted them out. But there's one personality who trusted the team and their captain Rashid Khan and he is none other than West Indies' batting great Brian Lara.

What did Rashid Khan say to Brian Lara?

Brian Lara was the only expert to include Afghanistan in his top 4 favorites to reach the semis and Rashid Khan was also aware of it. The Afghan captain revealed that he told Lara in a T20 WC welcome party that his side is going to give their all to make it happen and that they won't let him down.

"The only guy who put us in the semi-finals was Brian Lara and we proved him right. When we met him at a welcome party, I told him we won't let you down." - Rashid Khan said in the post-match of Afghanistan Vs Bangladesh.