Kane Williamson admired Afghanistan’s skilled bowling attack and highlighted their growth as a team ahead of their T20 World Cup opener.
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has expressed his respect for Afghanistan, their opponent in the opening match of the T20 World Cup 2024. The high-profile encounter will take place at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Saturday, June 8th.
Acknowledging Afghanistan’s strengths, Williamson highlighted their skilled bowling attack, stating, “Certainly a number of players in their side… I mean, all of the players, to be honest, they have such a skillful team, one of the better bowling attacks, I think, in the competition,” according to Cricbuzz.
He further emphasised their growth as a team, saying, “And we’ve seen that in franchise competitions, the involvement, the number of Afghani players. And they’re getting better and better, they’re getting more and more top-level cricket. And we saw at the last World Cup how strong they were in the ODI format too. So, a really highly skilled team and a number of threats.”
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The match will mark New Zealand’s first outing in the tournament, and they will be aiming for a strong start. Williamson, however, acknowledged his own limited T20 experience coming into the World Cup. “Yeah. I mean, it’s just the nature of the beast. I’ve been involved in a few IPLs now and sometimes play more, sometimes play less, And the balance of overseas players has a lot to do with that. And so, from my perspective, it’s just trying to help the team as much as I can and then put quite a bit of time into some of the fitness side of things and other parts of your game,” he said.
Despite his own recent lack of T20 game time, Williamson’s focus remains on leading New Zealand to a successful World Cup campaign, starting with a cautious approach against a formidable Afghan team.
Last Updated on June 7, 2024
