After Azmatullah Omarzai received the Player of the Match award, Mohammad Nabi stepped up to accept the Player of the Series trophy. Standing beside him was his young son, Rohan Esakhail. The commentator asked Nabi if his son shared his talent, to which Nabi chuckled and replied, ‘He loves cricket.’
In truth, the entire Afghan nation is passionate about cricket. For example, in Sharjah, when Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored a century against Bangladesh, the Afghan fans celebrated every single run from Omarzai, trusting him to lead them to victory even after Gurbaz was dismissed for 101. Omarzai’s unbeaten 70 off 77 balls proved vital, clearly earning him the Player of the Match award. After Afghanistan’s 5-wicket win, Omarzai said, ‘I stayed positive, aimed my shots where I wanted, and felt confident that if I couldn’t make it, Gurbaz would cover for me.’
Omarzai, who also took 4 wickets for 37 runs, discussed his bowling, saying, ‘The pitch was slow, with the ball gripping the surface, so I focused on variations. I spoke with Rashid, who advised me to keep my bowling unpredictable. Bowling in the death overs was challenging since I hadn’t done it before.’
Afghanistan’s captain, Hashmatullah Shahidi, expressed pride in his team’s performance, noting, ‘Batting in the second innings was tough with how the pitch behaved, but the players handled the responsibility well. I’m especially proud of how Gurbaz, Omarzai, and Nabi batted. In my view, Gurbaz is a match-winner with his century.’
Nabi, who has previously hinted at retiring after the Champions Trophy, reflected on the award stage, ‘Mentally, I retired after the last World Cup, but after we qualified for the Champions Trophy, I thought I could play that tournament.’ About his role in the team, he added, ‘Making small contributions for the younger players is a great feeling. I mostly talk with guys like Ghazanfar and Kharoat about bowling.’
