T20 World Cup 2021: Afghanistan capable of beating India by putting up a good total, says pacer Hamid Hassan

Abu Dhabi: Eyeing a semi-final spot on the back of an excellent run, Afghanistan will fancy their chances against a struggling India in the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, says senior pacer Hamid Hassan. [caption id=“attachment_10106831” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Hamid Hassan was asked how big is this an opportunity for him to get early breakthroughs against a struggling Indian top-order. AP[/caption] Currently, Afghanistan are in the second spot in Group 2 with four points, while India are staring at a league stage exit following back-to-back losses. According to Hassan, the most important thing will be to put up a good total if they win the toss. “We have a good opportunity against India. If we put up good runs on the board, we can defeat them by bowling and fielding (well),” said Hassan on Tuesday. The right-arm pacer, who has so far played 23 T20Is, was asked how big is this an opportunity for him to get early breakthroughs against a struggling Indian top-order. “It (will) depend on the wicket, how it behaves; we will see how it goes and work on our plans, what we have got and we will see. You cannot say anything before the game. But we will try our best to give our 100 percent in the game, be it spinners or fast bowlers.” He also said while the side focuses on taking it one game at a time, their aim is to make the semi-finals. “Honestly, we are focusing on the game one by one (each game). But the plan is to qualify for the semi-finals.” He said that the strife-torn country’s cricket team has gradually evolved into a complete squad. “Afghanistan is a very good side, you see batting, bowling and fielding has improved a lot. We have some of the best spinners in the world  (Mohammed) Nabi, Rashid (Khan) and Mujeeb (Ur Rahman). Now it’s a proper, complete squad,” Hassan, who returned with figures of 3/9 against Namibia in their last game, said at the pre-match press conference. “If you see our top-order, sometimes they click, sometimes they struggle, but the good sign is the middle order is getting runs, especially the skipper (Nabi). “The good news is that we haven’t (lost) all of the wickets so far and just five or six batsmen (have) got out, but we bat till number nine and most of the batters can can hit and even Rashid (Khan) hasn’t batted yet,” said the 34-year-old speedster.