"We forget our..." - Rashid Khan unintentionally exposes Afghanistan's weakness after loss to India in T20 World Cup

The Rashid Khan-led Afghanistan National Cricket Team played their first match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 Super 8 stage against the Rohit Sharma-led India National Cricket Team at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados on Thursday, June 20.

Afghanistan were not able to play good cricket against the Men In Blue and were completely outplayed in the game, losing by a hefty margin of 47 runs. While bowling first, they let the Indian team post a great total of 181 for 8 on the board with Fazalhaq Farooqi and Rashid Khan dazzling in the innings as they bagged three wickets.

With the bat, Afghanistan just couldn't get going and they were bundled out for 134 in 20 overs, with Azmatullah Omarzai being the top run-getter for the side. The all-rounder hit 26 runs while other batters failed to step up.

Speaking after the match, the Afghan skipper Rashid Khan stated that the surface was good to bat on and they backed themselves to chase down a total of 170-180. Rashid Khan said:

"That was a surface we thought we could chase 170-180. You just go there and how you play. Against bigger teams, we should be thinking we will have to chase such scores."

Rashid Khan further spoke about himself and said that his body is feeling well after his struggles in the recently concluded season of the Indian Premier League. Rashid Khan also exposed the weakness of Afghanistan, saying that they forget their skills sometimes and need to utilize them properly.

"Body is feeling well. I struggled a little in the IPL. I am hitting the areas consistently now. We have enjoyed everywhere we have played. We forget our own skills sometimes. If the conditions are there, we will look to use it."

What Happened In Previous ICC T20 World Cup Matches Between India And Afghanistan

Before the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 clash between India and Afghanistan, the two teams had met thrice in the T20 World Cups with the Men In Blue winning all three matches.

The Afghans and the Men In Blue locked horns with each other in the third match of ICC World T20 2010 on May 1 at the Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia. The Nawroz Mangal-led side weren't able to display a good batting performance in the match, which saw them getting restricted to 115/8. With the ball, they were not up to the mark either and allowed MS Dhoni & Co. to complete the run-chase in 14.5 overs. The Indian team comprehensively won the match by 7 wickets with 31 balls remaining.

In the 2012 T20 World Cup, these two teams went head-to-head with each other in the 3rd match of the competition at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo on September 19. The match once again saw the proper dominance from the Indian team as first they posted a good total of 159/5 on the board and then bundled out the opposition team for 136 to register a comfortable 23-run win.

Then, India and Afghanistan faced off each other in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 on November 3 at the Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi. In that match, the Virat Kohli-led side won a one-sided encounter by 66 runs as they first scored 210 for 2 and then allowed the Afghan team to register just 144 for 7 on the board.