"There are many ups and downs" - Rashid Khan reacts with broken-heart emoji after Afghanistan bow out of Asia Cup 2023 in thriller vs Sri Lanka

Afghanistan's ace spinner Rashid Khan has reacted with a broken heart emoji after his side bowed out of Asia Cup 2023. That came after his side suffered a narrow two-run loss against Sri Lanka at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Tuesday, September 5.

Chasing 291/8, Rashid was stranded on 27 runs off 16 balls with his side requiring a six to win the game as per the required Net Run Rate (NRR). The visitors were eventually bundled out for 289 in 37.4 overs. The all-rounder also picked up a couple of wickets in the game.

On Wednesday, Rashid Khan took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to share his feelings about the game. He wrote:

“In sport, there are many ups and downs. You learn, grow, and come back stronger. Thank you for always supporting us,” with a broken heart emoji.

For the unversed, Afghanistan could’ve reached the Super-4 if Fazalhaq Farooqi had scored a four at 37.2, six at 37.3, 37.4, or 37.5, or had taken a single to allow Rashid to finish the game. The No. 11 batter instead blocked two balls, getting out off the third delivery.

Following the loss, Afghanistan's head coach Jonathan Trott said that they were unaware of the entire mathematical calculations. He said in the post-match press conference:

"All we were communicated was we needed to win in 37.1 overs - we weren't told what the overs in which we could get 295 or 297 - 38.1 overs were never communicated to us".

Watch AFG vs SL highlights below:

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“Very disappointed” – Afghanistan captain after narrow loss against Sri Lanka

Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi expressed his disappointment after Afghanistan lost to Sri Lanka by two runs. He said that the team would bounce back strongly in the upcoming 2023 ODI World Cup in India, scheduled to be played in India from October 5 to November 19.

Shahidi said in the post-match presentation:

“Very disappointed about it (the loss and elimination). We fought well, we gave our 100%. Proud of the team for the way we played, the way we batted. I think in the last couple of years we played good cricket in the ODI format also. We are still learning a lot.”

He continued:

“We had a lot of positives in this tournament. We are very near to the World Cup, what we did wrong here we will learn and be better for World Cup. Our crowd is always supporting us. We are thankful to them. We tried our best to give something back to them today, we feel sorry for them.”

Afghanistan will next play two warmup games against South Africa and Sri Lanka in Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati on September 29 and October 3, respectively. They will then begin their World Cup campaign against Bangladesh at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on October 7.