"Whatever Glenn Maxwell wanted was happening"- Hashmatullah Shahidi on infamous Australia win

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi has said that he still does not have any explanation for his team's loss against Australia in the ICC World Cup 2023 game.

High-flying Afghanistan locked horns against Australia in their 8th league game of the World Cup. Afghanistan had won four of their previous five games and a win over Australia would have put them on the verge of making it to the semifinals.

The Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side dominated the game for the most part before eventually suffering a heartbreaking defeat. Batting first, Afghanistan rode on Ibrahim Zadran's ton to pile up a big total of 291/5. Zadran scored an unbeaten 129 and became the first batsman from his country to hit a World Cup ton.

In reply, Australia were in all sorts of trouble. Afghanistan's bowlers came out all guns blazing and reduced their fancied opponents to 91/7 inside 19 overs. At that stage, an Afghanistan victory looked like a mere formality.

However, Hashmatullah Shahidi and his teammates were in for a rude shock, realizing that the game was not over until it was over. Glenn Maxwell, Australia's last recognized batsman, came up with a knock for the ages to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat for his side.

Maxwell battled cramps and spams but kept batting and eventually took his side home by playing arguably the greatest ODI knock of all time.

The right-handed batsman smashed an unbeaten double century as Australia crossed the finishing line in the 47th over. He scored 201 from just 128 balls with the help of 21 fours and 10 sixes.

Match ke bad raat bhar so nahi paya: Hashmatullah Shahidi

In an exclusive interview with Cricket Addictor, Hashmatullah Shahidi recalled the heartbreaking loss against Australia. The Afghanistan captain stated that Maxwell succeeded in doing whatever he wanted to do, while luck had completely deserted his team.

Shahid also said that he could not sleep the entire night after the loss. The left-handed batsman further said that even almost a year after that game, he does not know what happened on that fateful day.

"Australia wale match mai Maxwell jo chahta tha wo ho raha tha, or jo ham chah rahe to wo nahi ho raha tha. maxwell us din kya kiya hame kisi ko koch samjh nahi aya. mai us match ke bad raat bhar so nahi paya. aaj bhi us match k bare m sochta ho to samjh nahi ata us din hova kya tha," Hashmatullah Shahidi told Cricket Addictor.

(roughly translated to: "In that game against Australia, whatever Maxwell wanted was happening while what we wanted was not. What Maxwell did that day, no one understood. I could not sleep the whole night after that game. Even today when I think about that game, I cannot figure out what happened.")

While Afghanistan missed out on a World Cup semifinal spot in 2023, they avenged that loss during the 2024 T20 World Cup. Afghanistan beat Australia in the Super 8 game to qualify for the semifinals for the first time.