According to head coach Jonathan Trott, a historic victory for Afghanistan against England, only their second in the World Cup, will give the team immense confidence and ‘have a knock-on effect’ in 50-over cricket matches against other teams, not only in the 2023 edition but beyond.
Ikram Alikhil, playing his first World Cup match in India, guided Afghanistan to a comeback victory after Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s innings of 80 runs off 57 balls provided the impetus. It was largely due to his innings that Afghanistan was able to end with a formidable 284, with Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan also making significant contributions. The spin triumvirate of Mohammad Nabi, Mujeeb, and Rashid then took eight of England’s ten wickets, bowling their team to a decisive 69-run victory.
“We thought we had a decent total, but we had to bowl well and field well and the guys did that. So, I think it’s very pleasing and there’s a lot of confidence that will hopefully come from this when competing against the bigger nations and it’ll have a knock-on effect to all the other games, not only in this World Cup, but for the future as well,” said Trott. “Just what Afghanistan cricket can achieve. Hopefully, this will be the sort of kick-start it is because I know the next match, our opposition certainly will be – I’m not saying they weren’t looking at us closely, but they might have a look at the tape again but we respect every opposition and I say this to the guys but we don’t fear anyone. Every game we are here to play, we are here to, I believe win.”
Trott is hopeful that the victory will bring joy to the cricket fans of Afghanistan around the globe and encourage young people to take up the sport. “I believe I was here yesterday or the day before, but I cannot recall, stating that the players are competing for more than just cricket. The men are very cognizant of the difficulties that some people are experiencing as a result of the natural disaster and other circumstances.
“And so, if this can give a smile to people’s faces anywhere in the world, but also encourage boys and girls to pick up a cricket bat or a cricket ball and get playing cricket wherever they are in Afghanistan, then, that’s the sort of the goal that’s been achieved. And that’s great. And then grow the game and the publicity and the exposure that this side is going to give the country, but also the sport,” he said.
Trott was reminded of England’s World Cup loss to Ireland in 2011 and the subsequent emotions. “I believe that’s the glory of the World Cup, wouldn’t you agree? This is what cricket is all about, and as I mentioned earlier, this game pushes and tugs you so much emotionally as a player and a coach, because you want the players to succeed so much because you know what they are capable of. And, you know, there were moments of success in the previous two games, perhaps more so in the second game.
“So, I’m just chuffed with the players and the things that we’ve spoken about and as a side, we’ve agreed if we get these sorts of things right, we can compete with anybody in the world. So, it’s just the belief that I think that will give the guys, the work that they put in off the field. These guys work incredibly hard, I must say, off the field, gym-wise, business-wise, you know. I’m really impressed with them. And they will see the rewards, you know, and this will encourage them to kick on even more, hopefully. So yeah, it’s brilliant. It’s one win out of three. So, let’s look forward to the next game.”
When asked if Afghanistan exploited England’s weaknesses, Trott stated that his team took advantage of the spin-friendly conditions and ascended to the batting challenge. Ample franchise cricket is played around the globe, and the Afghanistan cricketers rub shoulders with their English counterparts, so they know the ‘ins and outs’ of the English players.
“Well, we knew what we wanted to do. It’s not so much exploiting anything. It’s a case of if we do these things consistently right, then that will give us the best chance. I think it helped us a little bit that the wicket was spinning. So, for the fact that we went on and got 284 on a wicket that was spinning gives us a lot of credit because it’s been times when we played a lot of crickets in the subcontinent obviously where if it’s spun, we haven’t played that well
“So, this will give the players a huge amount of confidence. And I think the way that Ikram came into the side, but also the way that he kept was really, really good. The person playing his first World Cup game for a long time, he played obviously a few years ago. So that’s brilliant. So, there’s great individual performances from our guys. And with the ball, I thought Mujeeb was excellent. I think the fact that a lot of our players have played with the English players in franchise cricket, so they get to know the ins and outs of each player so there’s that familiarity and also the confidence.
“Sometimes I think when you see big Test-playing nations you sort of hold them in high regard. I think playing with players like that you see that they are human and you just as entitled to win or do well, so you know really pleased for the guys and but England, you know, they’re a good side I think you know, obviously they lost games in 2019 as well when they won the World Cup. So, you know, I’m sure they’ll bounce back.”
