Cricket World Cup 2019: Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib unperturbed by weather threat for Sri Lanka clash

Waseem Ahmed 20:10 03/06/2019
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  • Afghanistan take on Sri Lanka at Cardiff next.

    Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib is not perturbed by the threat of rain ahead of his side’s 2019 ICC World Cup clash against Sri Lanka at Cardiff on Tuesday.

    Both sides are searching for a first win of the tournament after tasting defeats in their respective campaign openers but their hopes could be dashed by the weather with some rain predicted for Tuesday.

    However, Gulbadin feels a rain-curtailed match could suit the aggressive nature of his Afghanistan side.

    “It was also predicted for today, but it didn’t rain so much,” the Afghanistan skipper was quoted as saying by AFP.

    “Tomorrow we just see what’s the weather. I think maybe the weather will be the same. So if we can reduce the overs it will be much better for us.”

    Afghanistan started their campaign with a comprehensive loss to Australia with the five-time champions chasing down a target of 208 runs with seven wickets to spare.

    Despite the one-sided nature of the loss, Gulbadin is keeping a positive outlook for the remainder of the tournament.

    “We’ve got to be positive. If you look, we missed out on 12 overs in the previous game, yet we scored 200-plus,” Naib said.

    “If you have wickets in hand, so maybe the score is 300-plus something.”

    Sri Lanka, meanwhile, were beaten over more resoundingly by New Zealand with Dimuth Karunaratne bowled out for a mere 136 runs in a 10-wicket loss. However, Gulbadin is refusing to take the islanders lightly despite their recent struggles in limited-overs cricket.

    “I saw the Sri Lankans play on TV. They lost a few games in the last two years and they’re struggling in one-day matches,” he said.

    “Yeah, we have the opportunity to do well against them. But they are also a good team and we cannot it take easy.

    “We can try to score big. If we play 50 overs maybe it will be difficult for them.”

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