Afghanistan are doing better day by day, says Gulbadin Naib

Afghanistan skipper Gulbadin Naib after losing to India by 11 runs on Saturday said that we are doing better day by day in the ongoing ICC Men's Cricket World Cup and will continue to play on our potential.

"I think we are doing better and better day by day and this is the team I want to create. But we, unfortunately, missed the opportunity and credit goes to Indian side as they played well in the game," Gulbadin Naib said in the post-match conference.

Afghanistan showcased their skills and team spirit against India and gave them a tough fight. The tournament's favourite Indian side was restricted to 224 runs by the Afghani bowlers and then Naib and Mohammad Nabi tried to chase down the total but at last, failed.

"The good thing is that Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman bowled really well and restricted MS Dhoni from playing big shots. Kedar Jadhav and Dhoni stitched a partnership that took the game away from Afghanistan," Naib said.

"I think when we chase total like this we need two-three players to score big runs as 20-30 runs are not enough. We are taking a lot of positives from here," he added.

The pitch was difficult to bat on first but somehow Men in Blue managed to give a fighting total to Afghanistan. Dhoni and Jadhav added runs in the middle order. Afghani spinners Rashid and Rahman bowled well and did not allow batsmen to score freely.

For India Shami took a hat-trick in the last over of the match. He became the second Indian bowler and first in the current World Cup who took a hat-trick. The world number one bowler Jasprit Bumrah also bowled brilliantly.

"It was difficult wicket to play in the first inning but in the second inning, it became much easy for batting. Our players did not play the right shot and gave their wicket early, otherwise, it was a chase-able score," Naib said.

Naib said that India is his favourite team and he always supports India but they missed the opportunity to defeat them.

"India is my favourite team and I always support the Indian team. At the time during the match we thought we will chase the total easily but India is a strong side and they defeated us," Naib concluded.

India is unbeaten in the tournament and won their all four matches. India's match against New Zealand was called off due to rain and they next take on West Indies on June 27.

-ANI