'Get Kohli, Rohit out, half of India is finished. They'll score 70 less in T20s'

Former Afghanistan captain Asghar Afghan will return to the cricket field in the Legends League Cricket as part of the India Capitals squad. The tall right-hander, who was one of the first to bring Afghanistan's cricket to the global map, is excited to ply his trade for the Gautam Gambhir-led side. Ahead of the tournament, Asghar Afghan, in an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, expressed his views on LLC, Afghanistan's performance in the Asia Cup, their issues in domestic cricket, the greatness of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma and much more.

Q) You are in India, it would be a little unfair if we don't about Indian cricket. You've played a lot against Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, what do you make of the discussion about their approach in the T20Is?

When a cricketer doesn't perform, there will be talks. That's part of every cricketer's life. But whenever we played against India, our plan used to be around Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. We used to say 'get them out, half of Indian team is finished'. The whole world plans against these two big players like this only. They can win matches single-handedly. Our plan was always to attack them in the beginning because if we can't get them out in the beginning then it is very difficult to trouble them. Especially Virat Kohli. He is a very busy player. When he is set, it is very difficult to dislodge him. We used to believe that if we get both of them out early then about 100-120 runs would be less from India's total in an ODI and about 60-70 runs in a T20I.

Q) But despite Rohit and Kohli performing well, India didn't even make it to the finals of the Asia Cup. What went wrong?

Asghar Afghan: Yes, on paper, they were the best team to win the Asia Cup. The kind of balance they had was great. But perhaps they took things a little light but the main reason for their losses in the Super 4 stage was the injury to Ravindra Jadeja. It really affected the balance of their side.

Q) You think India can go all the way in the T20 World Cup in Australia?

Asghar Afghan: India should support their players and the team. It's not like they are a bad team just because they didn't do well (in Asia Cup). These are part and parcel of the game. The World Cup is coming, and India have a very good chance.