look news india
New Delhi, March 11 (HS). Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan is set to make a comeback to competitive cricket in the three-match T20 series against Ireland. The legspinning all-rounder has been away from cricket since the 50-over World Cup in November last year after undergoing back surgery.
Ireland won the only Test match while Afghanistan leads the ongoing three-match ODI series 1-0. Afghanistan won the first match by 35 runs while the second match was lost due to rain. After the last ODI of the series on March 12, Afghanistan will face Ireland in three T20 matches, with the matches taking place in Sharjah on March 15, 17 and 18.
“The plan is to represent the country in the upcoming series (T20 against Afghanistan) and the training is going on and today was the second day,” Rashid had said in a video interview posted by the Afghanistan Cricket Board on Saturday (March 9). And thankfully it went well and I hope the next few days will also be good so that I can wear the national jersey again and keep performing well for my country.”
Rashid admitted that the last three months were tough for him as he was going through the rehabilitation process.
Rashid said, “The last three months were difficult because I had surgery. I was suffering from a back injury for the last seven to eight months and the doctor had asked me to undergo surgery before the World Cup but I decided to play the World Cup because it was a very important tournament for us. However, I am back on the field now and feeling good now and my focus now is to get back on the field and bring happiness and success to the country. Although it was really very hard because going through the surgery and then going through the recovery process is not easy because you need to focus on everything and you have to take care of your rehabilitation and training because it is a very slow process because you slowly -Slowly started walking first and then working out in the gym, so those were very tough days.”
Rashid said, “The focus is always on playing good cricket and performing well and we have played a lot against Ireland and we are hopeful that we will do well and perform well because it is a great preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup and So our focus is on making the most of it. We are preparing well for the T20 series.”
