APL youngsters could make cut for World Cup squad: Afghan
sharjah — Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan has said that they will now turn their focus on the World Cup and added that some of the youngsters who did well in the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) could make the trip to England.
A lot of young players have impressed during the APL and Afghan said they would be called up for camps leading up to the World Cup.
The World Cup will be played in England from May 30 to July 14 next year.
“We are preparing for the 2019 World Cup. We will have practice matches, ODIs and Tests as well. We have a lot of cricket because we are preparing for the World Cup. Our next main mission is the World Cup. It is very important for Afghanistan and we are all focussed on it,” said Afghan.
“We will definitely find new talent from this League. There have been a lot of emerging players from this tournament. Waqar Salamkheil is a chinaman bowler and the way he bowled and performed during the tournament, the way Darwish (Rasooli) performed, as well as Karim Janat, it shows that there is a lot of talent in Afghanistan. And this is good for us because when we have our next camp, we will have these boys and the others. And we will see how it goes as we have not settled on our World Cup squad yet. There is still eight months left for the World Cup and we will also have a look at the young talent emerging from the League. Those who are fit and who are playing well, will make it to the World Cup squad,” he added.
Afghan led the Kandahar Knights in the APL but his side failed to make the semifinals.
“Now we go back home and after a few days of rest, we have our domestic Shpageeza tournament we will prepare for that,” he said.
Reflecting on the APL, Afghan said: “It was a good tournament for us as there were a few positives. Some of the youngsters like Shirzad, Karim Janat, Waqar Salamkheil played very well in this tournament. Also, some of the other youngsters, who also got opportunities. It was a good experience for them.”
On the difference between captaining the National side and a franchise team, he said it was a good learning experience. “I feel the captaincy of the National team is easy compared to such Leagues because in the National team everyone is on the same level, but here it is a mix of different players, which also includes youngsters. So, it is a bit difficult, especially in such Leagues. But it was a very good experience for me. You get to learn a lot from this.
“Our batsmen did not perform well in this tournament. But it is part of the game. Sometimes, it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The bowlers did brilliantly but unfortunately, the batting didn’t click for us,” Afghan said.