T20 World Cup 2022: Mohammad Nabi’s Afghanistan are set to start their Super 12 campaign against Jos Buttler’s England on Saturday, October 22 at Perth Stadium.
New Delhi,UPDATED: Oct 21, 2022 16:06 IST
Trott wants AFG openers to set platform in T20 World Cup clash against ENG. Courtesy: Twitter
By India Today Web Desk: Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott has asked his team’s opening batters to set the platform in their T20 World Cup 2022 Super 12 match against Jos Buttler’s England on Saturday, October 22 at Perth Stadium.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Hazratullah Zazai are more likely to open the batting for the Afghans in the multi-nation mega event. Trott, who took over after their head coach back in July, reckoned that Afghanistan have the resources to do well.
“We are looking at our openers to set a good platform along with Ibrahim at No.3. We have got some really exciting players, who are household names (Mohammad) Nabi or Rashid (Khan) or Mujeeb (Ur Rahman) even. Hopefully, we are going to impress a lot of people and win games,” Trott was quoted as saying in a pre-match press conference.
Before their Super 12 matches, Nabi and Co. played in two warm-up matches in Brisbane. Starting with, they beat Shakib Al Hasan’s Bangladesh by 62 runs at the Allan Border Field.
However, their match against Babar Azam’s Pakistan didn’t produce a result due to rain. Nevertheless, the Afghan batters had a decent day after scoring 154 for six.
Skipper Nabi was the star for them as he stayed unbeaten on 51 runs off 37 balls with five fours and one six. Ibrahim Zadran and Usman Ghani scored 35 and 32* respectively.
Trott said that the Afghan players have tried their best to get accustomed to the conditions and the nature of pitches on Australian soil.
“We have been here for a few weeks, trying to get accustomed to the conditions and the different variations in the pitches you get as compared to the sub-continent. The weather perhaps hasn’t allowed us to play on wickets that are quick and bouncy in the build-up period,” he stated.
“But we had the chance to play at The Gabba on a quick pitch. So, we learned a lot from that and hopefully, we can take that experience and apply it in tomorrow’s match,” Trott added.