T20 World Cup: Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran conceded that his side needs more regular fixtures against top-tier international teams to bridge the skill gap in the shortest format, after they suffered a 3-0 defeat to current T20 World Cup holders India.
At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Afghanistan were totally thrown off their gear by a swashbuckling Abhishek Sharma, who hit 108 off just 34 balls, including reaching his century off 30 balls. In the face of the chase of 222, Afghanistan’s off-colour batting line-up wilted under scoreboard pressure and were bowled out for 94 and suffered a 127-run defeat.
The 127-run thrashing handed out by India in New Delhi marked Afghanistan’s heaviest defeat by runs in T20Is, with their 94 all out also the side’s lowest-ever T20I score against the Shreyas Iyer-led side.
"We improved a little bit in the powerplay. I'm totally happy with the intent. I would say we didn't contribute well in today's game. We just gave (away) back-to-back wickets. But we will work on it, and as I mentioned earlier, we have thought about that - how to take the intent forward.
“Yes, we will struggle for a little bit in one or two series, but I'm pretty sure with time, we will improve. If we are not going to work and we are not going to have that intent, then it's really hard to beat the big teams at the international level," Zadran said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
Zadran, who took over as Afghanistan’s T20I captain from Rashid Khan after an early exit from this year’s T20 World Cup, was also steadfast in calling for more high-profile fixtures for Afghanistan and greater focus on player fitness to consistently compete with world cricket's powerhouse sides.
“Yes, we will struggle for a little bit in one or two series, but I'm pretty sure with time, we will improve. If we are not going to work and we are not going to have that intent, then it's really hard to beat the big teams at the international level," Zadran said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
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“But if you want to improve, we should work on ourselves and fitness to level up with the biggest teams; then I'm pretty sure we will give a tough time, and we will beat the big teams all the time. But it will take time. We just need more games in a year," he added.