Image Credit- AFP
Afghanistan’s batting success at the World Cup can be
down to soaking up pressure and adjusting their T20 abilities to the tempo of
ODIs, according to head coach Jonathan Trott, ahead of a pivotal match against
Netherlands in Lucknow.
Afghanistan’s middle order had the lowest ODI average
(26.44) among all Full Member countries going into the tournament, dating back
to the beginning of 2021. In the World Cup, that figure has increased to 36.93,
which is the fifth-best score in the competition.
“I think it’s a case more of just being better
all-around, and thinking more about your all-around game,” Trott said in
Lucknow on Friday. “Afghanistan [players] naturally grow up playing a lot
more T20 cricket than any other format, so the skills for T20 are there. It’s
about adding to that sort of base of T20 skills. As you see, 50-over cricket is
a long time and you have to be able to, I think, ride the sort of ebbs, and
flows of a game.”
Although Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the
openers, have been scoring regularly, it hasn’t failed when they haven’t
struck. Gurbaz was dismissed for a four-ball duck in their previous match
against Sri Lanka, but Rahmat Shah came to the rescue, sharing half-centuries
with Ibrahim and Hashmatullah Shahidi, who then put on 111 with Azmatullah
Omarzai to complete the chase.
“The thing I’m really happy about from the last
game is we lost a wicket in the first over and Rahmat Shah was able to go into
No. 3 and soak up that pressure but still kept scoring at a good tempo,”
Trott said. “That shows the ability to soak up pressure at times, what you
have to do in 50-over cricket, but also then accelerate at certain times.”
Trott also stressed on the importance of the batters
who are in to stay till the end and finish the job, especially while chasing.
“I think when chasing those targets, we saw just
what is possible if you have a good solid start and you have batsmen in the
last ten overs,” he said. “That’s happened for us, but it’s also
happened against us in games where it’s been difficult to stop the opposition
with set batters in the last ten overs.
“Having that sort of vision, knowing that you can
score quickly towards the back end of games, I think that’s the pennies we’re
starting to see drop with the players.”