"You will see Afghanistan as a totally different team after this tournament" - Gautam Gambhir picks their win vs England as their sweetest victory
Gautam Gambhir has picked Afghanistan's win against England as their sweetest victory in the 2023 World Cup and opined that they will stun more formidable teams going forward.
Afghanistan completed their campaign in the ongoing World Cup with a five-wicket loss to South Africa in Ahmedabad on Friday. They defeated England, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Netherlands to finish with eight points and assured themselves a place in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Gambhir was asked to pick Afghanistan's likely sweetest victory in the tournament, to which he responded:
"England, because it was an excellent wicket, the small Kotla ground and England's powerful batting lineup, and despite that they defended that total and won so convincingly. We always knew that it was going to be a good contest against Pakistan because the match was in Chennai."
The former India opener added:
"However, the way they defeated England in Delhi, I believe Afghanistan would have got a lot of confidence. You will see Afghanistan as a totally different team after this tournament. You will see them beating big teams going forward. They almost defeated Australia as well."
Afghanistan set England a 285-run target on a batting-friendly surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi in their third league game. They then bundled out Jos Buttler and company for 215 to register their first-ever World Cup win against a Test-playing nation.
"They have already become the second-most-strongest team in the subcontinent" - Gautam Gambhir on Afghanistan
Gautam Gambhir reckons Afghanistan are only behind India among the Asian teams. He said:
"This win or loss (against South Africa) doesn't make a big difference. You saw in the last match, they lost because of fielding and the same thing happened today. They have already become the second-most-strongest team in the subcontinent, after India."
Gambhir added that Hashmatullah Shahidi and company can become a formidable force in world cricket if they improve their fielding. He elaborated:
"However, if you have to dominate in world cricket, I believe you have to improve your fielding because you have bowling and batting. If you work on fitness and fielding, you will defeat many big teams in the world extremely consistently."
Afghanistan's fielding lapses potentially cost them a semi-final berth in the ongoing World Cup. Mujeeb Ur Rahman's dropped catch off Glenn Maxwell might haunt them for a long time as the Australian all-rounder made the most of the reprieve to play one of the greatest ODI innings and virtually knocked the Afghans out of the tournament.