Our morale was down against India ahead of Asia Cup clash: Afghanistan’s Mohammad Nabi

New Delhi [India], December 28 (ANI): Afghanistan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi revealed that the team’s morale for the Asia Cup clash against India was down after losing narrowly to Pakistan in the previous match.

Afghanistan made 129/6 in the first inning and were on the verge of defending the total but Naseem Shah’s two back-to-back sixes in the first two balls off the final over undid brilliant bowling by Afghanistan throughout the innings. Naseem’s cameo secured a one-wicket win for Pakistan in a thrilling Super Four clash at the Asia Cup 2022 in September.

The defeat shook Afghanistan’s confidence as they were knocked out of the Asia Cup.

Nabi, who led Afghanistan in the Asia Cup, said, “The match against Pakistan the night before ended in a narrow defeat for us and we weren’t in a good mental state for the India game. We dropped four catches off Virat and any player, who gets that many chances, would look to cash in and so he did, scoring a century. Our morale was down ahead of the India clash,” Nabi told ANI.

“Form isn’t temporary in any sport, including cricket. All players have to go through a bad phase. Virat ended his run drought and scored a century against us in that 2022 Asia Cup clash,” said the Afghan all-rounder.

The Asia Cup clash against Afghanistan on September 8, 2022, saw Virat return to his best, thrashing Afghan bowlers all around. He ended the match with 122* off 61 balls, studded with 12 boundaries and six sixes. Finally, Virat ended his 1,021-day-long century drought and brought up his first in T20Is. It was his 71st century in international cricket.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Nabi went unsold in the IPL 2023 auction. He had a base price of INR 1 crore. Nabi will lead Sharjah Warriors in ILT 20 this year.

The 37-year-old Afghanistan player has featured in many games for Afghanistan and also donned IPL colours. Nabi played for the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2022. He was, however, released by the team ahead of the IPL 2023 auction. Nabi did not appear in any games for the Kolkata Knight Riders during the 2022 season.

Nabi had been part of the IPL since the 2017 season. He played for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders with a total of 17 IPL games under his belt. The right-handed batsman scored 180 runs and took 13 wickets in 17 IPL outings.
Earlier, after crashing out of World Cup 2022 following the loss to Australia, Nabi announced his decision to resign as Afghanistan’s captain. Nabi captained the team in 35 T20Is.

He has also appeared in 3 Tests, 136 ODIs, and 103 T20Is. In 3 Tests, he has aggregated a paltry 33 runs and picked 8 wickets. In ODIs, he has scored 2956 runs in 121 games at an average of 27.12, with 1 century and 15 half-centuries. He also picked 144 wickets in 50-over internationals.

Turning for his country in 103 T20Is, Nabi has scored 1664 runs at an average of 21.06 with four fifties, at a strike rate of 139+. He also scalped 84 wickets in 103 T20Is.