Afghanistan captain Gulbadin Naib is a proud man after Afghanistan ran India mighty close in their previous game of the 2019 ICC World Cup on Saturday at Southampton.
Bubbling with confidence after the performance against India, Afghanistan face Bangladesh at the same venue on Tuesday and Naib is in no mood to let their opponents have an easy ride.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Monday, when asked about the desire to beat Bangladesh, Naib’s reply sent everyone into laughter. He said, “Hum toh doobay hain sanam, tujhe bhi leke doobenge [We have already drowned, darling, but we’ll take you down with us]”
Naib was speaking about derailing Bangladesh’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup as the Tigers face a must-win situation against his team.
‘I support the Indian team’
While Naib’s gung-ho statement ahead of the Bangladesh game has won him many fans across the world, the Afghanistan captain showed off his own fandom after the defeat to India, stating he followed the Indian team closely and supported them.
“I love the Indian team. I always support them. Virat Kohli is my favourite player. Today, we had a chance of beating them and I’m disappointed we let that chance go. According to me, they’re are the best team in the tournament,” Naib said.
Afghanistan spinners caused the Indian batsmen lot of trouble in the opening game exposing their middle-order woes to an extent. Their spinners will be key against Bangladesh again as they look to register their first win of the competition.
“You saw our spinners made it very difficult for India who have the best batting line-up in the tournament.”
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