Wasim Jaffer expressed his opinion on X, the former Twitter platform, stating that it would be unjust to refer to Afghanistan’s victory over Australia as an upset.
Against Australia, Afghanistan achieved a historic victory in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight stage. After batting first and scoring 148 runs in the first innings, the team produced an incredible showing with the ball, keeping the Australians to a meagre score and won the match.
The players that stole the show were Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Gulbadin Naib, among others. Gurbaz opened the innings for Afghanistan with a score of 60 runs in 49 deliveries. Naib then put on an incredible show with the ball, giving up 20 runs in four overs while taking four wickets. Following the victory, a number of supporters came forward to claim that Afghanistan had pulled off a significant upset over Australia.
Former India batsman Wasim Jaffer took issue with this assertion.
Don’t denigrate Afghanistan by referring to this as an upset. When they play well, AFG can defeat any team. They overcame a formidable Australian team today by playing to their abilities. A reality to be rejoiced in. Jaffer tweeted, “Congratulations and well done, @ACBofficials #AUSvAFG.
Do not disrespect Afghanistan by calling this an upset. Afg are good enough to beat any team on their day. They played to their potential today and defeated a very good Aus team. A fact that should be celebrated. Congratulations and well played @ACBofficials 👏🏼👏🏼 #AUSvAFG pic.twitter.com/e3Ydxap3kC
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) June 23, 2024
We’ve won big as a team and a country: Rashid Khan
Rashid Khan, Afghanistan’s captain, spoke up following the victory to emphasise what it meant for his team to overcome Australia on the biggest platform. After losing to Australia in the 2022 T20 World Cup and the 2023 ODI World Cup, he talked about how good this triumph feels.
“As a team and a country, we’ve won big.” It is a wonderful feeling to defeat Australia. We were not able to witness it during the 2023 ODI World Cup and the Australia 2022 World Cup. It was very significant to Gurbaz and Ibrahim that we returned to the same XI. Rashid Khan added, “But it’s also about the opposition; we wanted to post our best XI, which is why we made changes in the India game.”