IND vs AFG: 'We play better spinners in nets' - Afghanistan captain on facing Kuldeep, Ashwin and Jadeja

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IND vs AFG: Afghanistan might have been bundled out for 156 in their first match of the World Cup 2023 but they are confident of a strong comeback against India in Match 9 of the World Cup 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Wednesday.

Bangladesh spin duo of Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz joined together to pick six wickets against Afghanistan who lost in Dharamsala by six wickets. However, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi has asserted that they should not be written off after just one poor performance.

India spin unit consisting of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are set to test Afghanistan batters but unperturbed Shahidi made a strong statement in the press conference and said they as a unit are used to playing "better" spinners in their net sessions.

"We play better spinners in the net sessions. Like if you see Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Noor and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, we play them every day. So, I think our team is far better in playing spin bowling.

"So that game you know we struggled but you can't say that you are not good enough in one game. So that game is gone now and we know we can play spinners better and we will try to come back in the next game in every department," said Shahidi on the eve of the game.

Hashmatullah Shahidi, on the Captains' Day event on the eve of the World Cup 2023, had declared that an improved batting show from Afghanistan can be expected. He reiterated that the spin unit was his team's strength but that would not be enough to win matches.

"Yes, I made a statement at the beginning that we will play good cricket as a batting side. We have a good spin bowling attack, but only one department can't win you games.

"You have to score runs for that, to win the game. Also in the Bangladesh game, I know we didn't do well batting, but we still believe, I still believe and as a team we have that belief that we can come back in the next game and throughout the tournament," said the skipper.

Star leg-spinner Rashid Khan went wicket less against Bangladesh as opposition batters continued with their expected plan of not taking any risk against him. Shahidi has backed Rashid, saying that on his day he can run through any opposition.

"See, Rashid is the best bowler in ODI and T20s, so whatever opposition is doing, we don't care about that, like how they play, they want to play Rashid, but for us the important thing is how he has planned against the opposition. So that matters for us.

"We are playing ODIs over the last six months so he knows how to bowl and he knows how to bowl to every team. He has the quality and whenever it's his day he can do anything against the opposition, so we are expecting and we are hopeful that he delivers in tomorrow's game."

IND vs AFG: Hashmatullah Shahidi on Virat Kohli vs Naveen-ul-Haq matchup

Eyes will be on the matchup between Virat Kohli and Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq who got in a heated exchange against each other in the IPL 2023. Shahidi said players do sometimes get into on-field altercations, before highlighting that India has been like a home for Afghanistan who are loved by the people of India.

"See, as you mentioned before also, like India is our home, it was our home, we played here and the people of India give a lot of love to Afghanistan people.

"And what happened in the ground, that aggression comes to every player, it's not about India and Afghanistan. So, it can come to everyone. So, this happened and still like if you see a lot of our players, we have idols from Indian team like Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid."