All hell broke lose as Afghanistan booked their ticket to the T20 World Cup semi-finals for the first time in history. Fans thronged streets in thousands to celebrate the team's moment of history on the global cricketing stage, beating Bangladesh in their final Super 8 match of the tournament. Afghanistan weren't backed by many to go this far in the tournament, but wins over giants New Zealand and Australia in the marquee event paved the way for them to sail through. As their qualification became official, fans in Afghanistan took to streets, with pictures and videos of the same going viral.
Even in the team bus, Afghanistan players could be seen partying as the celebrated the historic moment.
Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan admitted that the feeling was as if the team completed a lifelong 'dream'.
"It's something like a dream for us as a team to be in the semifinal. It's all about the way we have started the tournament. The belief came when we beat New Zealand. I don't have any words to describe the feeling. We thought 130-135 was a good total on this wicket. We were 15-20 runs short. It was all about mindset. We knew they would come hard at us to chase that in 12 overs," Rashid said.
The Afghanistan skipper showered praise on his side and said that they have a strong T20 lineup.
"That's where we could take advantage. We just had to be clear with our plans. We put in the effort, that's in our hands. Everyone did a wonderful job. In T20s, we have a strong base, especially in bowling. The quality of fast bowling we have, they are skilful," he added.