ICC T20 WORLD CUP 2021

November 2, 2021

Hamid Hassan

Sheikh Zayed Stadium

Afghanistan

Pre Match Media Conference

Q. Your spell in the last game, your first T20 in more than five years but you still have all those yorkers in the bouncers. How special was that coming after five years, after all those injuries and helping Afghanistan to win that day?

HAMID HASSAN: It was a great comeback for me, especially after five years taking on break. I was fit enough to play cricket but couldn't make it to the national site. Last tour against Zimbabwe, I was part of the team but I couldn't get my Dubai Visa in time. So I missed that.

The last couple of months, if I say couple of years, I was just practicing hard and to get there and get the opportunity the day before yesterday I bowled very well and I was very happy that I performed very well and Afghanistan win that game.

Q. And the injury about a couple of years earlier, not recently, around that time you were also a commentator in the Shpageeza league and you were also sort of a bowling coach for Afghanistan, I believe. So how did you sort of manage like doing all these roles and also training with the physio during that time?

HAMID HASSAN: Yeah, that's true. I'm a self believer person and very hardworking person. I never give up very quickly. And during the 2000 Antigua Cup also I was commentating against, Afghanistan against Ireland. During a period of time in the practise sessions, like during commentary time, like one-hour break, I went to the ground, had running and fitness training and then bowling.

So I managed myself always. And the strength, trying to keep working hard, because it was just part of cricket and it was like an experience for me as a commentator and I was there, like, not a professional coach as I say, but I helped always my youngsters for Afghanistan, if I'm in Afghanistan, outside Afghanistan.

They always connect with me asking me questions, like especially the youngsters who is on the team now and some of them back home in Afghanistan.

So I would love to help my youngsters, whatever I have in my experience I'm more than willing to share with them.

Q. Have you been impressed with the fighting spirit of Afghanistan in the T20 World Cup; do you feel confident in defeating India considering India batting has struggled in the last two games?

HAMID HASSAN: Afghanistan is a very good side. You see batting, bowling, fielding is much improved. We have one of the best spinners in the world, Mujeeb -- Rashid, Mujeeb, and now it's a proper complete squad. If you see top of the order, sometimes they click. Sometimes they're stuck. But the good sign is middle order is getting runs, especially Skipper and everybody in the middle.

But the good news is we haven't got out all the wickets so far, just five or six batsmen get out. But we have a long batting side until No. 9, I think.

So most of the batsmen, they can hit, even Rashid hasn't bat yet. So we have good opportunity against India, if we score good runs on the board, insha'Allah, we defeat them by bowling and fielding.

Q. You've spoken about the quality of your spinners. But you know the problem has been with the India top order with the new ball. So how big an impact, or rather how big an opportunity is it for somebody like you to come in and get those early breakthroughs?

HAMID HASSAN: It depends on the wicket, how it behaves. We'll see how it's going, and we'll work on our plans, what we have got and we see the situation, how it's going on. And you can't decide and you can't say anything before the game or like we will win, we'll do that.

Insha'Allah, we'll try our best to give our 100 percent in the game, whether it's spinners or fast bowlers.

Q. Afghanistan being in that (indiscernible) situation, how do you keep your minds calm and cool in the pressure games?

HAMID HASSAN: Just believe on ourself in Allah, that's what we do all the time. And we have to be calm because if you get pressure in the game and you know what will happen. So you lost your concentration, you can't focus, and that will impact to the team and to the players and you can't win the game.

So it's better to be calm and cool and focus in whatever you give from the coaches, they give the plan. So you have to be focused on that.

Q. You were part of Afghanistan's first-ever score for the T20 World Cup in 2010 in the Caribbean. Like, you're here again. I think Naveen was 10 years old when he saw you bowling in that World Cup. And now you're also here. How do you look at the progress and you're the mentor to younger bowlers like Naveen.

HAMID HASSAN: True. Like that was our first World Cup for Afghanistan in cricket history, 2010 in Caribbean. And I was part of the team at that time. And lucky to be part of the team in this T20 World Cup. Everything was new and different and big occasion playing against one of the biggest teams in the world.

It was such a brilliant experience of my life to play against South Africa and India in 2010. Right now you see the players, they're very famous, playing much cricket all around the world.

And it's one of the best, if I say, a sign for Afghanistan's future for cricket that players are involved in different leagues, in different cricket all over the world.

I have to say Naveen is one of the best options, one of the best names in Afghanistan. He improved a lot over the last couple of years, playing T20 cricket mostly.

Every part of the league in the world, he played just I think one IPL left. Maybe hopefully he'll get a chance there as well, the way he's performing in this World Cup. He's brilliant.

Q. Does the team -- do they follow what qualifies for the semifinal, or is the team taking one match at a time? Because if you beat India tomorrow you have a chance to go through. Are you embracing it one by one?

HAMID HASSAN: Honestly, we're just facing game one by one. But the plan is to qualify to the semifinal, insha'Allah. And we can't say before that, oh, we beat India, we beat -- the day we're playing against any team, we just focus on the same day.

Or for the next game or the next day, we -- the plan is clear just playing one game and targeting one team and these other matches we'll see what happens next.

Q. How hard was it to prepare for this World Cup with all the things going on in Afghanistan, how hard is it mentally and physically?

HAMID HASSAN: We are mentally fine. We're physically super fine. So for us no issues. We always enjoy cricket. We love cricket.

There's no any problem for us. And if you're out of the country or in Afghanistan, you always practise and there's not an issue for us.

Q. I remember in lead to the 2019 World Cup, the last time you played against Pakistan, you had a hamstring injury. And you spoke at the end of that game that two years down the line you didn't know where -- at that point would you have imagined yourself playing in such a major tournament and being such a central part of the Afghanistan team once again?

HAMID HASSAN: As I said before to one of your colleagues, I'm a self-believer person, believe on myself, believe that insha'Allah that I never give up really quickly.

When you target something to achieve, you have to work very hard. And what I've done from the past couple of months or year I have to say I trained very hard, worked very hard for this opportunity to get here. And I played every single game, whatever selections they give me in Afghanistan.

And I want to thank the selection committee that they believe in me to give me that opportunity.

So I've shown my talent to them already before and show my fitness test, whatever they required for the team to get here.

I just turned that, and right now I'm here. But it's a still job not done yet and still a couple of matches left and want to play that very well, insha'Allah.