In addition to congratulating Afghanistan on their historic victory, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar noted that England’s hitters erred by attempting to read the spinners off the track rather than from the hand. On Sunday, October 15, in a thrilling match in Delhi, Afghanistan defeated the reigning champions England by 69 runs to deliver the tournament’s first significant upset. Additionally, this was Afghanistan‘s first triumph over England in general.
The Afghan spinners took advantage of the conditions while defending a goal of 285 runs and gave England a lot of trouble. With eight wickets between them, the spin trio of Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and Mohammad Nabi excelled. Although the Arun Jaitley Stadium’s pitch was not turning squarely, the spinners received enough support, and their talent was evident.
“Afghanistan put in a fantastic all-around effort, with @RGurbaz_21’s good knock serving as the catalyst. @ECB_cricket had a bad day.
The England hitters failed to read quality spinners from their hand, which is a requirement when facing them. Instead, they were read off the field, which I believe contributed to their demise,” Tendulkar wrote in his piece.
I admired the vigor they shown on the field. The Sachin Tendulkar continued, “Well played @ACBofficials!” in the post on his official ‘X’ account.
The ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar praised the young Rahmanullah Gurbaz for his outstanding 80 off 57 balls during the ODI World Cup 2023 match. Rahmanullah Gurbaz is regarded as a batting superstar.
Wonderful all-round effort by Afghanistan led by a solid knock from @RGurbaz_21.
Bad day for @ECB_cricket.
Against quality spinners, you have to read them from their hand, which the England batters failed to do. They read them off the pitch instead, which I felt led to their… pic.twitter.com/O4TACfKh21— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) October 15, 2023
Against England, Rashid Khan is in good form.
Rashid gave conceded 110 runs in his nine overs during the most recent World Cup match between Afghanistan and England in 2019. Four years later, the spin magician delivered an outstanding performance, concluding with figures of 3/37 against the same opponent. He appropriately took the final England wicket to fall, giving Afghanistan their best victory in international cricket.
Rashid desperately needed a chance to play after his performance in the first two ODI World Cup games fell far short of his high expectations. In the first inning, the 25-year-old batted and scored 23 runs off 22 balls, which was a significant contribution. Hashmatullah Shahidi and company will have a lot of confidence moving forward thanks to Rashid’s return to form.