'It's equal for everyone' - Rashid plays down Ahmedabad pitch talk

It's only day four, but Rashid Khan is already tired of being asked whether he or his team will gain any advantage (or not) from conditions, though it was unavoidable in Ahmedabad.

The city is a second home to the Afghan captain, who has spent four seasons with Gujarat Titans and will play for them in a fifth in 2026. He has taken 23 wickets at the venue, in as many matches, all in the IPL but has never played a T20I at the ground. His only one ODI here was at the 2023 World Cup against South Africa - the opposition for the next match- and the last thing Rashid wants to talk about is the surface.

"To be honest, no one around the world will tell you how the wicket will behave before the game. Everyone gives their point of view. Sometimes it becomes a 250 wicket, sometimes it becomes a 150 wicket. To put those things in the mind a lot, I think it affects you mentally as well," he said. "Nowadays, what I'm hearing a lot is the discussion about the wicket in the ground. We don't really discuss the skills that we have. And we bring those skills into the game."

To add to the pitch discussion for the record, the match between Afghanistan and South Africa will be played on a red soil pitch which likely means there will be more bounce than turn. On the face of it, that means it could favour South Africa, whose squad includes six seamers. If a black soil surface had been chosen for the game, then it would more likely suit Afghanistan's spin heavy attack better. A mixed surface, such as the one South Africa beat Canada on two days ago, was high-scoring, with good carry and very little turn. That game was a night fixture and there was an expectation of some dew which only materialised to a tiny degree. A day game, like the one on Wednesday, negates the dew factor and could be, in the words of another GT (former) player, David Miller, "a bit slow and turn a little bit more during the day."

Read that all again and you may conclude that the conditions will be neutral: a pitch that could play into South Africa's hands and a start time that may suit Afghanistan. That makes Rashid's point about skill all the more relevant, as it is the likeliest dividing line between the two sides. "If you're playing on the same wicket and the opposition team have also played here and know the conditions well, it's not going to be favouring us. It's equal for everyone," Rashid said. "Whoever takes the right decision at the right time in a pressure situation is going to be more successful."

Afghanistan come into the game with more at stake, after they lost to New Zealand in their opener despite scoring 182. Coach Jonathan Trott was critical of his seamers in that game and said they "just didn't bowl well enough." Between them, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Azmatullah Omarzai and Ziaur Rahman delivered 8.5 overs, conceded 98 runs and took just one wicket. All three may not play against South Africa but for whoever does, Rashid wants to see an improved performance. "The line and the length we bowled gave them free shots, especially in the Powerplay. We could have kept it a little bit tight. On that wicket, which is not much help for the seamers or the spinners, you have to keep it very tight and hit the right area consistently," he said.

Rashid singled out offspinner Mujeeb ur Rahman, who opened the bowling and was Afghanistan's most economical bowler against New Zealand, as an example for the rest to follow. Afghanistan may also look to add to their spin contingent and take wristspinner Noor Ahmed off the bench and onto the field. Noor missed the New Zealand game as Afghanistan anticipated uneven bounce in Chennai and has never bowled against South Africa in a T20I so could be a secret weapon of sorts, though he is known to them through the SA20.

Several other Afghan players including Rashid (MICT captain), Mujeeb, Sediqullah Atul and previously Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Omarzai, have played in South Africa's franchise T20 tournament so the level of familiarity runs deep and could add another dimension to the contest. "Personally I've been playing for a long time and played with each and every one (of the South Afrians) for a long time. It does help the youngsters who haven't played and give them the kind of idea of what's going to happen and what their mindset is."

But Rashid also acknowledged that no franchise tournament can compare with the World Cup, when it comes to expectations. "If you play in the IPL, it's different. When you play in an ICC event, it's different. There is pressure when you play for your country so it's a different feeling," he said. "You have to be always ready. And it's not that if a person has played a lot, he can't lose at all. You still have to bring your best game."

Afghanistan know first-hand the kind of threat South Africa bring to World Cups and lost to them at the 2024 semi-final, which was the first time Afghanistan had reached the last four. South Africa went on to their first final and lost to India.