T20 World Cup: Was shocked when Asghar told me last night about his retirement: Nabi

T20
World
Cup:
AFG
vs
NAM,
Highlights:
All-round
Afghanistan
beat
Namibia
by
62
runs
for
2nd
win

Former
skipper
Afghan,
who
holds
the
record
of
most
T20I
wins
as
captain,
announced
his
decision
to
retire
from
all
forms
of
cricket
on
Saturday
night,
less
than
24
hours
after
Afghanistan’s
heartbreaking
loss
to
Pakistan
in
the
previous
match.

“Last
night,
he
(Asghar
Afghan)
told
me
that
tomorrow
would
be
my
last
game
and
I
was
shocked,”
Nabi
said
during
the
post-match
presentation.
“It
was
his
decision,
he
knows
his
career
better.
He
has
captained
the
side
for
almost
6-7
years.
He
was
very
consistent
with
his
captaincy
in
T20Is.
He
had
already
decided
that
tomorrow
will
be
my
last
game.”

Afghanistan
gave
a
befitting
farewell
to
the
former
captain
as
they
notched
up
a
convincing
62-run
over
Namibia
to
keep
their
semifinal
hopes
alive
in
the
tournament.

Adjudged
‘Player
of
the
Match’ for
his
three
wickets,
Naveen-ul-Haq
dedicated
his
award
to
Asghar
Afghan
and
hailed
him
as
the
“best
captain”
ever.
“I
made
my
debut
under
his
captaincy,
so
I
want
to
dedicate
it
to
him,”
Naveen
said.

“I
think
Asghar
has
been
the
best
captain
Afghanistan
has
ever
produced.
We
will
be
missing
him
a
lot.”

Afghanistan
has
batted
first
in
all
the
three
games
so
far
in
the
tournament
and
Nabi
said
his
team
is
aware
that
they
might
have
to
chase
down
totals
in
the
upcoming
matches
against
India
and
New
Zealand.

“The
boys
have
had
good
morale
in
the
team.
We
do
discuss
during
team
meetings
that
we
might
chase
at
times
as
well.
I
tell
the
openers
to
go
and
play
their
game.
Just
go
and
enjoy
your
cricket,”
he
said.

Known
for
their
quality
spinners,
Afghanistan
dished
out
some
sensational
pace
bowling
against
Namibia
with
Naveen-ul-Haq
(3/26),
Hamid
Hassan
(3/9)
and
Gulbadin
Naib
(2/19)
sharing
8
wickets.
“We
are
always
depending
on
spinners
but
we
have
some
quality
seamers
as
well.
Hamid
bowled
brilliantly
today,”
Nabi
said.

For
Namibia,
it
was
an
end
to
their
three-match
winning
streak
in
the
tournament
as
they
were
restricted
to
98-9
while
chasing
a
stiff
161
to
win.
“We
knew
it
would
be
a
level
up
from
the
previous
games.
I
don’t
think
the
pitch
changed
too
much.
To
chase
160,
you
need
to
bat
well,”
Namibia
skipper
Gerhard
Erasmus
said.

“It
was
quality
of
their
attack
and
their
cricketers,
even
with
Mujeeb
not
playing,
it
showed
today.”