Lahore, Feb 27: The Afghanistan team has chalked out plans for the entire Australian side and is not just focussed on its bete noire Glenn Maxwell, skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi said on the eve of their must-win Champions Trophy match.
Having knocked England out of the tournament with a memorable eight-run win here on Wednesday, Afghanistan are now seeking to get the better of Australia at the same venue on Friday and book a semifinal berth.
“You think we will come only to play with Maxwell? Do you think it will be like that? We have planned for entire Australian team, and I know that he (Maxwell) played really well in the 2023 World Cup, but that’s part of the history,” Shahidi said at the pre-match press conference on Thursday.
Chasing 292, Australia were staring at a certain defeat after losing seven wickets with less than 100 on the board, but then, Maxwell played one of the greatest knocks in history of one-day cricket to steer his side into an unbelievable win, and days later, the Aussies won a record-extending sixth World Cup.
“After that, we beat them in T20 World Cup, and we think about all opposition team. We are not coming to the ground to plan on individual players.
We will try our best to come with the planning, and we are not playing only Maxwell – we are playing Australia,” Shahidi said. (PTI)
