The high-spirited Afghanistan are inching closer to a potential semi-final spot and a win today over Australia will go a long way in continuing their fairy-tale campaign. Afghanistan entered the ODI World Cup 2023 with only one win in the quadrennial event ever, but now they have four wins in a single edition alone – moreover, three of those four wins have come against higher-ranked opponents and all former World Champions.
Ahead of their crucial match at the Wankhede Stadium, there was no dearth of motivation for the Afghans as a certain Sachin Tendulkar visited the team camp. Tendulkar not only presented a memento to the most experienced player of the team – Mohammad Nabi but also spent some valuable time with the players, possibly sharing tips to tackle Australia – one of Tendulkar’s favourite opponents.
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A source close to the Afghanistan team told CricketNext that the ICC and Ajay Jadeja, former India international and advisor to the Afghanistan Team for the World Cup 2023, facilitated the meet. “The team has a lot of young players and they all have grown up watching Mr. Tendulkar. They wanted to meet him and that’s why ICC and team mentor Ajay Jadeja facilitated the whole meeting for them,” said the source.
Before meeting the legendary cricketer, Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi shared how excited the players were when they got to know they would be meeting their role model. Shahidi said, “It’s the first time and we all are excited because he’s the legend of the game. For a lot of players, we watched him on TV as a successful player and he was a role model for a lot of us. So, an exciting time for the whole team. See him and maybe some words and we learn from him.”
Tendulkar shared his valuable experience with the team and motivated them with some words of confidence. However, the highlight of Tendulkar’s surprise visit to the team was his long chat with Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott and Jadeja.
The trio spent a lot of time on the field where Tendulkar as the players practiced in the nets.
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After the session, Jadeja escorted Tendulkar to the latter’s royal blue Porsche parked outside the presidential box in Wankhede. Just before leaving the stadium, Tendulkar waved to his fans and gave his best wishes to Jadeja for the big match.
Afghanistan are in contention for the semi-finals and a win over Australia today (November 7) would strengthen their chances further. They have already booked their place in 2025 Champions Trophy after sealing a top-eight finish in the World Cup 2023. Afghanistan have performed phenomenally well in the tournament and significant credit goes to former Indian cricketer Jadeja who has instilled the young Afghan cricketers with positivity.
“He (Ajay Jadeja) knows about conditions here in India. He has played in all the stadiums and in all the grounds of all cities so that helps us. Most importantly about him is that he is a very positive person, so whenever the team is doing good, he is still there to support the team. When it’s a hard situation, pressure time and the team is not doing well, he will be the first one to support the team. So that’s the good thing about him. And yes, we take experience from him,” said Shahidi.
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