"I had some work on my hamstring yesterday and today. Let's hope it works" - Rashid Khan © BCB

Afghanistan are sweating over the fitness of their skipper Rashid Khan ahead of tomorrow's final against Bangladesh. Having pulled a hamstring in the final league stage game he hobbled off, only to return later and to pick up two wickets for his side. He aggravated it further while stopping a run in the field. However, all that went in vain as Bangladesh completed a four-wicket win to take some momentum into the final. While the skipper hopes to be cleared for the final, he conceded that there was a bit of uncertainty around it.

"I can't say anything right now (regarding my availability tomorrow)," said Rashid on the eve of the game on Monday (September 23). "I had some work on my hamstring yesterday and today. Let's hope it works. Today we will see how it goes in the remaining session, and we will decide tomorrow. The main reason to come back and bowl was that I wanted to know the severity of the injury. The physio and coaches didn't want me to bowl. I was okay with the first two overs, but after going for a run, it got worse. Hopefully, it will be okay for tomorrow. Physio will have a lot of work to do.

"I think I shouldn't have bowled, but when the team needs you, you have to be there. I think we don't focus on ourselves in our country. We give it our all for the country. Even if we don't have one hand. We will just go for it. I saw how Asghar came to play four days after his appendicitis operation in Zimbabwe. So if I have 10 percent chance, I will go for it. I love my country, and I want the country to win, rather than myself," he added.

Afghanistan looked firm favourites to reach the final with an all-win record, but back-to-back losses at the hands of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh pegged them back. Rashid, however, wasn't too concerned with their successive losses. Having started strong in both games, a flurry of wickets in the back-half of the innings prevented them from getting to the totals they would've wanted. "We won two and lost two in the league phase. We have to take positives from it. Those things are gone. We have to focus on the final tomorrow. We have to do the basics right, and not repeat the mistakes of the last two matches. We want to repeat what we did in the Dhaka matches. The most important thing is that we are in the final."

Rashid and Afghanistan don't have to look too far away for inspiration. Their recent Test win against Bangladesh gives them plenty of takeaways.

"We can take a lot of positives from this tour. I am really happy with how Ibrahim Zadran played on Test debut. I am pretty happy with how Rahmat Shah and Asghar Afghan batted in that game. We also gave debuts to Zahir Khan and Qais Ahmed. Also, the way Rahmanullah Gurbaz played in his maiden series, he showed his talent. Fareed bowled exceptionally well in the first two games. Naveen-ul-Haq also delivered brilliantly in the last game against Bangladesh. He is also a wonderful fielder, as well as being a good bowler. We still have to improve in some areas but the way the youngsters took the responsibility and showed the talent, it was good for us," said Rashid.

"I think we have totally different teams for Tests and T20s. We only have three guys who play both formats - me, Nabi and Asghar. We have learned how to switch between formats, given our experience. You have to know that as an international cricketer and adjust yourself as soon as possible because you play all three formats in one tour. Our T20 guys had a good camp back home. They were already in form. The Test guys had a camp in Abu Dhabi. It is good to have different teams for different formats, and it is good to see that Afghanistan is able to do it as it makes it easier for captains and coaches," he said.