Afghanistan Begin Asia Cup 2025 with Massive Win, Rashid Khan Explains Mujeeb’s Exclusion

The Afghanistan team has defeated Hong Kong by a big margin in the Asia Cup 2025 and made a great start. This is the third biggest win in terms of runs in the Asia Cup T20. For Afghanistan, while Sediqullah Atal played a half-century of 73 runs in 52 balls, Azamtullah Umarzai hit his explosive half-century with the help of two fours and five sixes in just 20 balls. Along with this, he also took one wicket, giving only four runs in two overs. After this victory, Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan looked delighted. After the match, he also put forward his point of view on keeping Mujeeb ur Rahman out of the playing eleven.

After the match, Afghan team captain Rashid Khan said that the game was great. It was good to put so many runs on the scoreboard. Additionally, losing wickets at the beginning was a matter of concern for us. This was the problem in the last series as well. This is one area in which we need to improve. The batting in the death overs was excellent. Especially Umarzai. We have good spinners. This puts pressure on the opposing team. When you score runs, the batsmen take risks and we have a chance to take wickets.

He further said that we will try to make a good record even while chasing the target. It was difficult to see what the playing eleven should be. It was a difficult decision to keep Mujeeb ur Rahman out. Sometimes you look for combinations. The good thing is that I have options and this makes the job easier for me.

After the defeat, Hong Kong captain Yasim Murtaza said that playing the Asia Cup feels like a dream come true. This is one of the biggest tournaments in Asia. To be honest, we did not expect that kind of score. I was expecting a score of 150. Credit goes to Umarzai, he changed the game. Babar Hayat's batting and the bowling of the spinners were the positive aspects of this match.