Basking in glory following their maiden Test win in only their second appearance, Afghanistan's seasoned all-rounder Mohammad Nabi Monday said they are capable of beating any side if they bat well.
Nabi's comments came after Afghanistan notched up a seven-wicket win over Ireland here.
“We have the world's best spinners and we try to concentrate on our batting line-up. If we can put up a good score on board then we are confident of beating any team in the world,” Nabi said.
“It's a very historic day for the whole of Afghanistan. Especially for those guys who bring cricket from zero to Test cricket. We played two games and we won one. When you win than teams will tell you to come and play with them. Nobody plays a weak team. They might think that Afghanistan is weak but not so much that we can't fight them,” the 34-year-old added.
By matches, Afghanistan are joint second-fastest to a maiden Test-match win, alongside Pakistan and England.
Chasing 147 for victory, Afghanistan rode on a 139-run second-wicket partnership between Rahmat Shah and Ihsanullah Janat to secure a historic win months after their Test debut against India. Both batsmen scored fifties, with Shah striking his second of the game.
Star leg-spinner Rashid Khan also played a role in his team's triumph after returning career-best figures of 5-82 to bowl out Ireland for 288 in their second innings. Afghanistan have managed to qualify for all major international tournaments in recent years and are gearing up to play in their second ICC World Cup this summer in the United Kingdom.