After the Afghanistan cricket team stormed into the semifinals of the T20 World Cup on Tuesday, the whole country broke into festival-like crowds on roads and celebrated their win against Bangladesh.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Since the start of the tournament, Afghanistan has been a force to reckon with, but Tuesday’s match sealed their maiden spot in the semifinal of the men’s senior World Cup.
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In a wave of elation and congratulatory messages from all over the world, the Afghan team captain Rashid Khan received a call from the country’s Taliban Interim Foreign minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi.
He spoke to Rashid Khan over a video call and sent his wishes for a historic win against Najmul Hossain Shanto’s Bangladesh.
Talking about their achievement after the game, Rashid made an emotional speech thanking the fans for their continued support.
“I think the semi-final is going to be a massive, massive inspiration for the youngsters back home in Afghanistan. That Afghanistan team get into the semis for the first time,” Rashid said at the post-match press conference.
“And we have done it under 19 level, but this level we haven’t done that. Even Super Eight was first time for us and then in semis,” he added.
As the commentator said during the live match post-Afghanistan win, “From Kandahar to Kabul, whole of Afghanistan will celebrate today.”
Indeed there was no doubt about it.
Celebrations erupted in Afghanistan as thrilled Afghan cricket fans took to the streets to celebrate this historic win.
Rashid Khan and Co. have set their eyes on the semi-final berth as Bangladesh remains the last hurdle in their way to book a spot for the last-four match against South Africa.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, has already given up. Although they do have a chance of progressing to the semifinals, back-to-back defeats against Australia and India deflated their confidence.
“To be honest, I don’t think we have a chance to play the semi-finals anymore after this loss (against India),” senior all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan said on Saturday.
Now, Afghanistan faces uncharted territory as they prepare to take on the formidable South Africa in the first semifinal on June 27.
In the other semifinal, India will clash with defending champions England on Thursday evening.
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