Emotional Afghanistan skipper Mohammad Nabi breaks down during national anthem

As the national anthem of Afghanistan was playing before their match against Scotland, Mohammad Nabi broke down as he could not hold back his tears. This comes amid the challenging scenario in his country since the Taliban took over. An emotional Nabi prior to their thumping win over Scotland in their opening Super 12 match of the T20 World Cup 2021 can be seen in the video below.

In the pre-match conference, Nabi spoke about the current crisis in Afghanistan which has been developing over the last few months and the importance of cricket amid that challenging scenario.

"Everyone knows that back home in Afghanistan there’s a lot happening and everything from the last few months,” Nabi said. "But from a cricket point of view, everybody is ready for this World Cup and we prepared well. The fans are really waiting because the only happiness in Afghanistan is cricket. If you’re willing to do well in the tournament and we win the games, the fans are really happy and there will be a lot of smiles on faces," he added.

Afghanistan vs Scotland T20 World Cup 2021 Recap

Afghanistan defeated Scotland by a massive margin of 130 runs in their first Super 12 match. Afghanistan made 190 for the loss of just four wickets and managed to bowl out Scotland for 60 in 10.2 overs. Overall an impressive performance from the Afghan team puts them in an excellent position for the upcoming games. Najibullah Zadran scored 59 off 34 and Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai scored 46 off 37 and 44 off 30 respectively to help them to a huge target of 190. Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan were ruthless as they took nine wickets combined. Mujeeb took five wickets and went for 20 runs in his four overs and Rashid took four wickets and went for only nine runs in the 2.2 overs that he bowled.

Afghanistan will now take on their neighbours Pakistan on Friday, October 29, at the Dubai International Stadium and will hope to pick up a win to carry forth their momentum. Pakistan also won their first match which was against India, by 10 wickets as they chased down 152 with relative ease.

(Image: Twitter)