Minnows need more experience against the best: Ashraf

LONDON: Afghanistan international Mirwais Ashraf says the minnows need more experience against cricket’s top teams in order to make progress after a chastening World Cup campaign.

The Afghans have lost all seven of their matches in England and Wales so far, although they came agonisingly close to pulling off a major upset against India.

Ashraf, who last played for Afghanistan in 2016, said the side would learn lessons from the World Cup and he was excited about the future of cricket in the country.

“We must remember that these are very tough sides and they were never going to be easy for Afghanistan to beat, so the expectation from the nation going into those games was not too high,” he wrote in an International Cricket Council column.

“Nevertheless, they have done themselves proud with many of their performances especially that match against India when we got so close (India won by 11 runs).”

Afghanistan have two matches to play, against Pakistan and the West Indies, as they target only their second-ever victory at a World Cup following their win against Scotland during their first appearance in the 50-over global showpiece in 2015.

“I do think it has shown that Afghanistan need to arrange to play more games against the top nations to get that experience,” said Ashraf.