IND vs AFG: Afghanistan coach Trott believes ‘sticking to the basics’ key to defeating star-studded India

The former England batter, who has been the head coach of Afghanistan for nearly a couple of years now, believes that his team has the firepower to defeat India, despite suffering a six-wicket defeat in the first T20I on Thursday.

File image of Jonathan Trott. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Jonathan Trott is a straight shooter.

The former England batter, who has been the head coach of Afghanistan for nearly a couple of years now, believes that his team has the firepower to defeat India, despite suffering a six-wicket defeat in the first T20I on Thursday.

As temperature dipped to nearly six degrees, dew played a huge role in the game and the conditions reminded Trott of ‘April in England and county cricket.’

However, taking things in his stride, Trott believes that sticking to basics would be the key for Afghanistan in a bid to tame a star-studded side like India, “There are little things that we need to get better at if we want to compete with the likes of India in India. And going forward, with one eye slightly on the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, I believe in these guys. I firmly believe that when you come to India, we can win,” Trott said.

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That’s the sort of belief he has on these players. “It’s just about doing the basics for long enough,” he said. Inserted to bat, Afghanistan had a 50-run opening partnership, but it was a slow start, and suddenly, there were three quick wickets and Trott believes that both the things hurt the side.

“I think it’s a combination of both. We were 33 without loss in the powerplay, and a bit of credit has to go to India with the way they bowled. But then, we lost a wicket just before drinks, and were at 57 for three. So we didn’t have a great four overs after that, but we ended up scoring 110 in the last ten overs, and that shows what can be achieved when the guys get together,” he said.

“There are good things to take with us and there are certainly things we need to work on. We were just a little bit short with the bat, just 20 to 25 runs. We had a good start and we had an opportunity…”

India lost two quick wickets of captain Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill early on, before Shivam Dube led to a fightback. “India was in a similar position having lost two wickets in the powerplay, and then, they really played well. We need to look at what we can do better in the next game in Indore where we make it as tough as possible, or not possible at all…”

Trailing 0-1 in the three-match series, the Afghans have lots to play for.