Key Afghanistan spin bowler Rashid Khan believes Friday night's clash with Australia at the Adelaide Oval will be more of a home game for him than his opposition.
While Afghanistan can't progress to the semi-finals, they can upset the hosts, who must win by an enormous margin to have any hope of making the knockout stages, where they would aim to defend the trophy they won 12 months ago during the 2021 version of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates.
Khan has been a long-time player for the Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League, representing the side since the beginning of the 2017-18 season.
In that time, he has become the seventh highest wicket taker in tournament history, grabbing 92 wickets in 61 games at an average of 16.69 and economy of 6.44.
The Strikers retained Khan for this upcoming season of the Big Bash League during the inaugural international player draft earlier this year, and Khan has told The Sydney Morning Herald that he believes fan support will be on his side this evening for the game against Australia.
“I think it's more a home game for me than the Australian team,” Khan told the publication.
“I've played enough cricket here the last five years in the Big Bash.
“I'm absolutely super happy to be back here and looking forward to the game. I think mostly people will be [cheering] for me.”
Khan said that Australia needing to win by a big margin would be a positive for Afghanistan's spin-heavy attack.
“That's something which is a plus point for us - we know that they're going to come harder at us,” he said.
The 24-year-old has struggled to make an impact on the World Cup thus far, only playing in two games, where he took 1 for 17 against England and 2 for 21 against Sri Lanka.
