Former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan has joined the India Capitals squad for the upcoming Legends League Cricket. The right-hand batting all-rounder will showcase his talents for the Gautam Gambhir-led side after doing so for Afghanistan in more than 200 international matches.
Ahead of the LLC, Hindustan Times got a chance to sit with the 34-year-old and impart his cricketing opinions on different topics. When asked about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s approach to T20Is the former Afghanistan captain said, “When a cricketer doesn’t perform, there will be talks. That’s part of every cricketer’s life. But whenever we played against India, our plan used to be around Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. We used to say ‘get them out, half of Indian team is finished’.
He continued, “The whole world plans against these two big players like this only. They can win matches single-handedly. Our plan was always to attack them in the beginning because if we can’t get them out in the beginning then it is very difficult to trouble them. Especially Virat Kohli. He is a very busy player. When he is set, it is very difficult to dislodge him. We used to believe that if we get both of them out early then about 100-120 runs would be less from India’s total in an ODI and about 60-70 runs in a T20I.”
People want to watch the retired cricketers on the field again- Asghar Afghan
The discussion soon shifted to LLC with the interviewers asking, “How does it feel to be back.” Afghan who last played a T20I international match on October 31st, 2021 said, “First of all, I’d like to thank the Legends League Cricket organisers and the Indian cricket board for organising such a lovely tournament. It’s another great platform for all the players who have played a lot of cricket for their respective countries.”
“Mostly the cricketers playing in this league have a huge fan following, people want to watch them on the cricket field again and hopefully, we will be able to entertain them again, “added Afghan.
He also had good things to say about his new captain Gautam Gambhir and his approach. Talking about the former Indian player he said, “I think a captain needs to be a little aggressive by nature. The ones who are aggressive are very good by heart. Gautam no doubt was a brilliant batter in his time. He was an impressive captain for KKR in the IPL. I think we all will get to learn a lot. I can’t wait to join the team.”
