New Delhi: Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott has said that bowling is an area of concern for the team ahead of the T20 World Cup 2024 super 8 clash against India on Thursday. He said that the team has to ensure that they don’t end up giving 60 runs in 2 overs against India like it did in the final group match against the West Indies.
The Afghans were beaten a massive 104-run margin in the match as they were hammered for 36 runs in the fourth over and 24 runs in the 18th over as the Windies posted a mammoth score of 218/5 in their 20 overs. Once the coach was asked about the learning from the match and the overall World Cup campaign ahead of the India match, he said that they are just being able to pull overs back.
“If we don’t start an over well, being able to get out of an over and try and stop that. Today we had two overs in total, went for 60 runs, and that swings the game massively. That’s the black and white of the game and yeah with batting I’m disappointed that we couldn’t have got a bit closer.”
Hitting with the wind crucial
Apart from the costly bowling concern, Trott also mentioned that they would need to understand better the art of hitting with the wind to ensure that huge shots land outside the boundary and not in the fielders lap.
“I think we saw the West Indies players use the wind factor really well. I mean, the wind was to the bigger, much bigger boundary and we’re still able to clear it well. I think maybe we could have bowled a little bit better and get them hitting into, hitting the other way”.
“And that’s going to be key also going into Barbados with the wind there and that’s something we’re certainly going to look at and hopefully get right,” he added.
The Afghanistan team has enjoyed a remarkable run in the event so far with massive victories over New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Uganda. The coach also praised West Indies’ Nicholas Pooran for single-handedly shaping the match in the home team’s favour.
Apart from the bowling concerns, Jonathan Trott also mentioned that they would need to understand better the art of hitting with the wind. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
