'Doesn't matter if you are losing or winning': Rashid Khan welcomes 20-team T20 World Cup

Afghanistan captain Rashid Khan on Saturday welcomed the expansion of the T20 World Cup to 20 teams in the current edition, saying it has given players from more countries a chance to perform on the global stage. The 2026 T20 World Cup is the largest edition so far in terms of participating teams."It's always good to have more teams in the World Cup, that's why lots of nations come in and you see lots of new talent, which you haven't seen and different teams come in, they give tough time to the oppositions and I think that's how the World Cup becomes bigger and bigger,” Rashid said on the eve of Afghanistan’s match against New Zealand. "It doesn't matter if you are losing or winning the game, but you show to the world that you are capable of beating any side, any time as long as you have that belief," he added.Afghanistan are placed in Group D along with New Zealand and South Africa. Rashid said the team is ready for the challenge in a tough group.“In World Cup, you don't get things easily, it's always very tough and that's the beauty of T20 cricket. You have to pass through the tough lines to achieve something bigger and I feel like that's something which is a challenge for us. If you want to achieve bigger things, you have to go through tough routes and we have tough oppositions."“But still you have to keep that belief in yourself and keep pushing yourself in the ground, as we have done in the ‘24 World Cup, where we have beaten big teams. I think the confidence is there, but it's just about making sure we do the right things at the right time,” he added.Rashid said the experience Afghan players have gained from playing in the IPL will help them during the tournament.“We do have good spinners, but still you have to bowl well. And the wicket looks good, I think it looks good to bat on, but still the experience you have of playing a lot in IPL in here, I think you have to use that experience here and you can bowl the best to the batter, so it's going to be a good game,” he said.