"When you have a 4-hour delay flight"- Rashid Khan tears apart ICC even after being reprimanded just 1 night ago

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan was not happy with the ICC after the 4-hour delay in the flight to Trinidad, where they played their semi-final fixture against South Africa. Afghanistan had little time to regroup after their win over Bangladesh which helped them qualify for the semi-finals.

The flight delay meant that they had no chance to practice or get used to the conditions for their first-ever senior World Cup semi-final. Afghanistan's semi-final fixture was allocated to Trinidad rather than Guyana to accommodate the prime-time viewing in India.

This is not the first time when ICC has been lashed out for its intense schedule. Last year, ICC coped with some brunt for their scheduling in the ODI World Cup 2023 as well.

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Rashid Khan tears apart ICC over T20 World Cup 2024 schedule

Rashid Khan stated that it's hard to play after such flight delays, especially when you have to be at your best.

"When you have a 4-hour delay flight, it's not easy. Doesn't matter if you sleep 1 hour, you have to be at your best," Rashid said after winning the toss and opting to bat first in the first semi-final against South Africa.

Through his comments, Rashid highlighted the need for better planning and consideration for the upcoming ICC tournaments. While it is a complex task to schedule matches for the ICC, the board needs to understand the players' needs as well. The players' sleep cycle gets disrupted due to such scheduling which also affects their performance on the field.

The players need to be at their best on the cricket field for such games but they hardly get any time for the recovery, let alone practice on the ground.

Michael Vaughan slams ICC for showing bias towards India

Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan repeated Rashid's words. He slammed the ICC for disrespecting the players and also slammed them for being too biased towards India.

"So Afghanistan qualify for the WC semi winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players i am afraid," Vaughan posted on X (formerly Twitter).

"Surely this Semi should have been the Guyana one .. but because the whole event is geared towards India it’s so unfair on others ..," the former England batter added.

So Afghanistan qualify for the WC semi winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players i am afraid .. #<!---->T<!---->2<!---->0<!---->W<!---->o<!---->r<!---->l<!---->d<!---->C<!---->u<!---->p<!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) J<!---->u<!---->n<!---->e<!----> <!---->2<!---->7<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

Surely this Semi should have been the Guyana one .. but because the whole event is geared towards India it’s so unfair on others .. #<!---->T<!---->2<!---->0<!---->I<!---->W<!---->o<!---->r<!---->l<!---->d<!---->C<!---->u<!---->p

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) J<!---->u<!---->n<!---->e<!----> <!---->2<!---->7<!---->,<!----> <!---->2<!---->0<!---->2<!---->4

Maiden World Cup final for South Africa

Meanwhile, South Africa qualified for its maiden men's World Cup final after beating Afghanistan in the first semi-final. It was a one-sided match as the Proteas produced an excellent bowling display to end Afghanistan's dream run.

Afghanistan were bowled out for just 56 runs, which South Africa chased down in the ninth over with 9 wickets in hand. Marco Jansen was adjudged Player of the Match for his spell of 3-16.