Can win Asia Cup if we work on fielding and batting - Asghar Afghan

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Afghanistan have to make improvements in the batting department in order to challenge for the title, admits skipper Afghan. © AFP
Asghar Afghan, the Afghanistan skipper, said his team is geared up for the Asia Cup challenge, insisting that they have the potential to win the tournament riding on their quality spin attack. Afghanistan's cricketers are undergoing a month-long training camp that started on June 6 at the Kabul Cricket Stadium, with an aim to be ready for the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup - although the fate of both tournaments are yet to be decided.

The T20 World Cup appears a non-starter owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a couple of sitting members of the ICC - PCB chairman Ehsan Mani and Cricket Australia chairman Earl Eddings - indicating the same. But that is not the case with the Asia Cup as the ACC members are working hard to ensure the event takes place.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, are busy with their preparations in anticipation of cricket - be it a bilateral series or a multi-team event - with their focus on T20 cricket. "We have focused more on T20 players. So if it is possible that we play Asia Cup, T20 World Cup or our bilateral series against Zimbabwe, we should be fully prepared. I hope that we will be fully prepared in the camp for the upcoming competitions,'' Afghan said in a video message on Thursday (June 18).

"(We are) considering that the Asia Cup or the T20 World Cup is going to be held. For this very reason, we have put on this training camp to be better prepared. Our goal will be to play better cricket in the Asia Cup...because the games are going to be played in Asia, and our spinners are world-famous. That is why we need to work more on our fielding and batting for the Asia Cup and we can hope to reach final or even win the Asia Cup," he said.

Afghan said the team is following all the guidelines provided by the ICC in their preparation camp, as a result of which only five cricketers are allowed to practice at a time. The preparation camp is being supervised by Nawroz Mangal as their head coach Lance Klusener is yet to arrive.

"The camp has been very important, because if you look at the last thirty, forty or even fifty years, nothing has happened in the world of cricket that has made the world so complicated. Because of COVID-19 that is (the case) now. That is why the camp was so much needed and in this regard, I would like to thank the coaches who are working during different phases in the training camp with the players on different fields. They tirelessly work from morning till 5pm every day," said Afghan.

"If games are to be played in the future, we have to be fully prepared. Now that the 24-player training camp has commenced - and although we had planned to do a 35-player camp before Covid-19 but unfortunately the situation is different now - we have to abide by all the rules and regulations from ICC and our own health departments, which means no more than five players can practice at one time," added Afghan.