"He played the hero's brother's role" - Irfan Pathan lauds Rashid Khan's spell in Afghanistan's World Cup 2023 win vs England

Irfan Pathan has lauded Rashid Khan for playing the supporting role to perfection in Afghanistan's World Cup 2023 win against England.

Hashmatullah Shahidi and Co. set the defending champions a 285-run target in Delhi on Sunday, October 15. Rashid then registered figures of 3/37 in 9.3 overs as Jos Buttler's side were bowled out for 215 to suffer a comprehensive 69-run defeat.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Pathan was asked about Rashid avenging the mauling at the hands of the same opponents in the 2019 World Cup, to which he responded:

"Revenge - it became Badlapur for Rashid in Delhi. It was the same team, it was a ground in England and he conceded a lot of runs there but he bowled amazingly well today. We were saying that he does not have a very good record in ODIs but you can never count out Rashid Khan."

The former India all-rounder added:

"The rest of the bowlers did the main job. Rashid Khan didn't allow the pressure to be released at all and batted extremely well too but the real heroes today were Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. It's not that Rashid wasn't the hero but he played the hero's brother's role."

Rashid went wicketless and conceded 110 runs in nine overs in Afghanistan's 2019 World Cup clash against England. Eoin Morgan smashed 148 runs off 71 balls as his side posted a mammoth 397/6 and won the match by 150 runs.

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"He is such a dangerous batter that he can win the match on his own" - Irfan Pathan on Rashid Khan's dismissal of Liam Livingstone

Rashid Khan trapped Liam Livingstone plumb in front of the wickets. [P/C: AP]

Irfan Pathan pointed out that Liam Livingstone was the most crucial wicket snared by Rashid Khan. He reasoned:

"The first batter he dismissed - Livingstone, he is such a dangerous batter that he can win the match on his own by playing big shots. The other two wickets, Adil Rashid's wicket and then the last wicket - Rashid Khan will himself say that the match was already in their hands by then."

Pathan concurred with Mohammad Kaif when the latter highlighted that Fazalhaq Farooqi too deserves credit for setting the tone with his first delivery, saying:

"I totally agree with that because he not only picked up a wicket there but the ball was moving even after that. So the rest of the England batters were thinking that they weren't playing in India and that they were playing in England as the ball was swinging. So Fazalhaq Farooqi deserves as much credit."

Farooqi dismissed Jonny Bairstow leg-before-wicket off the first ball of the second over. Apart from Rashid, Mujeeb Ur Rahman (3/51) and Mohammad Nabi (2/16) were the most successful bowlers for Afghanistan.