World T20: Spin is Our Strength, Says Afghanistan Skipper Asghar Stanikzai

Afghanistan skipper Asghar Stanikzai on Saturday said that spin department was the strength of his side and he expects his bowlers to do well against South Africa in their crucial World T20 Super 10 cricket match at the Wankhede stadium here on Sunday.

Afghanistan, who qualified for the Super 10 after defeating Zimbabwe, Scotland and Hong Kong, lost to Sri Lanka in their first game in Kolkata after giving a tough fight.

"We have very good spin attack, Rashid (Khan), Nabi (Mohammad), he is a good off breaker, Hamza (Hotak), the left arm spinner. Throughout the tournament they have bowled very well, so our strength is spin bowling as well. We saw Mumbai wicket is always famous for big score and big target," Stanikzai told reporters at the match-eve conference.

"It will be a good game, we hope that we bowl well because spin is our strength," the 28-year-old said.

Stanikzai made a half century in the lost game against Sri Lanka and he said it has boosted his confidence.

"Every batsman when he is playing well, becomes more confident for next game. So definitely I got confident (after the knock against Sri Lanka). Most of our guys are currently in form, so they are confident and if we play against South Africa or with any other country, we will play our own brand of cricket," he said.

"We are trying to give a tough time to every team. Not only play with them, but we are trying to beat one or two teams in this tournament," he added.

Stanikzai said the experience shared by chief coach, former Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq, and bowling coach, ex-India player Manoj Prabhakar, has helped them to improve.

"After Inzamam and Manoj Prabhakar joined, we have improved more because they have shared their (experience), they have more international experience and they have played at such a pressure and elite level. They are sharing their experience and guys are improving day by day.

"As long as we play with full (ICC) members, we are getting more experience and we can identity all those weak areas where we need to improve to compete more on the elite level," the Afghan skipper said.

Stanikzai said they got support at home which has helped them reach this stage. He also said his team members enjoy playing the shortest format of the game because it's "entertaining".

"We like both (50 over and T20), but T20 is the most entertaining, most of the guys like T20, we also play 4-day and 50 over, but everyone likes T20 because it is short and you can find more sixes and fours," he added.