Afghan star Rashid Khan slammed the ICC World Cup schedule, calling it grueling and demanding. He pointed out the tight travel windows between matches, which hurt the player's recovery. This criticism pressures the ICC to create a more player-friendly schedule in future tournaments.
"When you have a 4-hour delay flight, it's not easy. It doesn't matter if you sleep 1 hour, you have to be at your best," the Afghanistan captain said after winning the toss.
Rashid's comments come after South Africa's encounter with Afghanistan was allocated to Guyana, which led to a long flight for the Afghans and possibly tired them out.
Khan's complaints are well-founded. Bowlers like him rely heavily on peak fitness, and tight schedules with travel disruptions mess with sleep and hurt their game. The ICC's juggling act of scheduling a global event is tough, but Rashid's voice joins a growing chorus demanding better player well-being.
Also Read: IND vs ENG Head to Head in T20 World Cup History
This isn't the first time the ICC's schedule has been slammed - the 2023 ODI World Cup faced similar criticism.
"So Afghanistan qualify for the WC semi winning in St Vincent on Monday night .. 4 hr flight delay on Tues to Trinidad so no time to practice or get accustomed to a new venue .. utter lack of respect to players i am afraid," Vaughan wrote on X.
"Surely this Semi should have been the Guyana one .. but because the whole event is geared towards India it's so unfair on others," he added.
South Africa put on a clinical display to dismantle Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final. Their pace attack, led by the fiery trio of Marco Jansen (3/16), Anrich Nortje (2/7), and Kagiso Rabada (2/14), ripped through the Afghan batting lineup, restricting them to a paltry 56 runs.
The lack of early partnerships and the disciplined bowling by the Proteas put Afghanistan under immense pressure, from which they were unable to recover. Chasing a modest target, the South African batsmen made short work of the Afghan bowlers, sealing a comfortable 9-wicket victory with 67 balls to spare. This dominant win secures South Africa's place in their maiden T20 World Cup final.
Also Read: SA vs AFG Semi-Final: Lowest score, most consecutive wins, many other records
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