Sachin Tendulkar(L) and Virender Sehwag.
Credit: Reuters, PTI Photo
Afghanistan win against England on Sunday in their ICC World Cup match has been counted among one of the best upsets by the cricketing fraternity and experts. Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium saw history scripted as the underdogs scored a huge win against the defending champions England as they won by 69 runs, leaving English fans and supporters in a shock. This was also Afghanistan's second ever win in World Cup history. Keeping in mind that the team had not had a single win in the last World Cup, this win is expected to have a major positive effect on the team's performance in its upcoming matches.
Indian cricketing great Sachin Tendulkar, while speaking on the match pointed out a major flaw in how England failed to chase down the 285 scored by their opponent. Tendulkar hailed the Afghanistan boys for their exemplary game but also explained why the English team could not stand up to the spinner trio of Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan. The trio picked up 8 wickets among themselves.
“Wonderful all-round effort by Afghanistan led by a solid knock from @RGurbaz_21. Bad day for @ECB_cricket. Against quality spinners, you have to read them from their hand, which the England batters failed to do. They read them off the pitch instead, which I felt led to their downfall. Loved the energy they carried on the field. Well played @ACBofficials!” Sachin posted.
Former cricketer Virender Sehwag also shared his views on the match in one line. Sehwag tweeted, "Looks like Eng and Aus are going to struggle to reach the top 4. #ENGvsAFG.
Sehwag also seemed to 'troll' former English captain Michael Vaughan who tweeted in favour of the English team to reach the semis despite the loss at Afghanistan's hands.
England has only won one match in the three games that they have played so far and Australia too lost both their opening matches. Australia however, managed to imbibe some enthusiasm as they won by five wickets against Sri Lanka on Monday. With their backs to the wall after defeats by India and South Africa, Australia showed some urgency with the ball and bundled out Sri Lanka for 209 inside 44 overs with Adam Zampa leading the rout on figures of 4-47.