Why Rashid Khan thanked West Indies legend Brian Lara after qualifying for ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semi-finals?

Rashid Khan took four wickets against Bangladesh and marched Afghanistan into the semi-finals.

After securing a semi-final berth in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan took a moment to thank the West Indies legend Brian Lara for showing confidence in the Afghanistan team to reach the semi-finals.

The Rashid-led unit sealed their place in the semi-final of the ongoing tournament in the West Indies after beating Bangladesh by eight runs (DLS) in St Vincent, thus knocking out both Bangladesh and Australia from the Super 8 round.

Two days ago Afghanistan had beaten Australia to keep themselves alive in the semi-finals race. With Australia losing to India as well, Afghanistan got the opportunity to reach their first-ever semi-final of a major ICC tournament.

Only guy who had us in the semi-final was Brian Lara: Rashid Khan

In the post-match presentation, Rashid thanked Lara for picking them as one of the semi-finalists before the tournament began. Lara is one of the experts for broadcasters Star Sports for this tournament.

Before the competition kick-started, Lara was the only one who had picked Afghanistan as one of his semi-finalists. The other three teams he named were India, England and West Indies. Out of Lara’s four predicted semi-finalists, three have made it to the knockouts.

Rashid revealed he promised Lara that his team won’t disappoint him.

The Afghanistan captain said, “I think the only guy who had us in the semi-final was Brian Lara. At the welcome party, I told him, ‘We won’t let you down. We will prove that you are right.“

Rashid said reaching the semi-final of an ICC tournament has been a dream of his side, and now they are living it.

Khan added, “It’s something like a dream for us as a team to be in the semi-final. It’s all about the way we had started the tournament. The belief came when we beat New Zealand. So it’s unbelievable. I don’t have any words to describe my feelings. Definitely back home everyone is so, so happy for this.“

Afghanistan will face South Africa in semi-final 1 in Trinidad on June 26.

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