11 October - Delhi - Afghanistan Coach Jonathan Trott post-match press conference
[Reporter:]
Quite a bit of progress you see even though you've lost the match. Progress in terms of the number of runs put on board and the partnerships that the players had, the batsmen had in the middle. So, progress in that sense?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Yeah, I think so. I think that was the idea and after a performance like we had in Dharamsala, unfortunately, we wanted to get more runs on the board obviously there and today as well, I think we're a few short today so I think it was a brave decision to and what we thought was the right decision to bat first all the results of pointing towards that batting first is a bit of an advantage with the fact that the outfield is sort of sprayed and there's not much dew. And we thought our spinners could come into the match towards the end on a wicket that we thought might keep a little bit low in spin. But credit to India and they played really well. So, a good run out for our boys, a good lesson in how to play cricket here in Delhi and look forward to the England game.
[Reporter:]
Your players had in the middle order had produced good scores. It is giving you hope that things are getting better in the middle order. And also, a tough match is ahead on 15th of October.
[Jonathan Trott:]
England's always going to be a tough match. World champions here in Delhi. It's going to be another high-scoring game, I predict. But I thought the way that our middle order played, Azmat played really well, stepping up to number five and showing the talent and the pedigree that he's got as an all-rounder, I thought he played really well. And we just, we had in parts where we played okay. Unfortunately, in the last 10, we only scored 61. In overs 11 to 20 we only scored 30-something, 38 or something like that. So, there are parts of the game we got right, and there's parts of the game that we need to get better if we want to compete to the sides like India and England. So those are the things we're looking to get right going forward and get ready for England.
[Reporter:]
So, I wanted to understand what did you think of the total because Hafid the track looked like a really good batting track and both the batters got out at a wrong point in time and probably the acceleration didn't happen. Did you think the total was par?
[Jonathan Trott:]
The total we got? No, I think it was probably about a 350-360 wicket. I think would be par. I think also the way that Rohit played at the beginning made that made that certainly look like that was a case or maybe even more but you got to take your head off to the innings that he played in the start that he gave the Indian side. We need to take early wickets he nullified that effect and sort of took the game away a little bit and made it a walk in the park for them towards the end
[Reporter:]
I Just wanted to ask about Rashid Khan. Came on in the 15th over, I think, by which stage they were obviously a long way ahead of the chase. Is there any sort of specific reason why you held him back as long as you did?
[Jonathan Trott:]
I didn't hold him back. I think, Yeah, I think it's just a case of - when Rash, I always want to feel like, certainly in that instance, you want to get him into the game as soon as possible.
You know, the captain obviously had a feel or a gut feel that he wanted to go with, and that's the case. I think that's a captain's prerogative. And I think there is a case maybe when the ball gets a little bit older for Rash to bowl with it, and it gets a little bit more turn, it doesn't skid on as much. So, there's six of one half a dozen of the other. But certainly, you want a guy like Rash in the attack as soon as possible. So, it's always something we'll look at.
[Reporter:]
Jonathan, we have seen in this tournament that some of in some of the matches - mostly in day night matches under lights, bowlers doesn't have anything to walk. We have seen New Zealand chasing down totals, we have seen last night Pakistan chasing down and now today India have chased down totals quite easily and Afghanistan have a very good bowling attack, very good spin attack. So, under lights, do you see this is becoming a trend in this tournament and if under the situation as a bowling unit, what is the ideal way to counter this thing?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Well, it depends on the surface as well? It depends on the surfaces and the sort of pace you want to bowl at - so I think for me, you know the fact that it wasn't an issue here in the outfield, so the spinners for us, that's the most important thing, that our spinners can grip the ball. If there is going to be dew in the evenings, then I think, yeah, obviously batting second would suit us. But the fact that when South Africa played Sri Lanka here, they got a
big first innings total and they won the game batting first. All the stats here suggest batting first is helpful. This wasn't today, we just didn't get enough and we weren't able to put enough pressure on India enough but also for long enough because of the size of the total we got unfortunately.
[Reporter:]
Jonathan 63 for 3, 183 for 3 and then 272. Tell us the story, when you go back to the drawing board, what kind of discussions would you have around the batting? Because each of those scorelines sort of gives a small narrative of what could have been for the team.
[Jonathan Trott:]
Yeah, as I said, overs, 20 to 30, 30 to 40, we got 60, 65. So we're going at over a run a ball in those 10. It's just in the beginning, I think after 20 overs we were sort of around 80, we're going at fours, and that's just not good enough, especially when the ball's hard, you want to be going a lot quicker and scoring a few more runs but I think maybe it's a little bit of a hangover from the Bangladesh game and but I certainly hope now the confidence we'll have taken into the England game There's some things that we did really well. There's some things we need to improve on. But that's the case for any side, especially developing side playing against the powerhouse of India and on the home patch in Delhi. So yeah, plenty to look forward to, but also lots to work on.
[Reporter:]
This game is over and I just want to ask something about the very next game, which is also will be here. I just want to ask will Afghanistan be able to beat England?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Will be able to beat England? Definitely. Anybody can, if it's a two-horse race, anybody can win. So that’s certainly with the kind of players that we have. We certainly have match winners. We've seen performances that we've done against the likes of Pakistan. We've had, we've got with the bats, we've had some good, good games. It's all about getting together a good hundred overs. That's the next challenge for my boys. And they're working really hard towards that. So hopefully on the 15th, that'll be the day.
[Reporter:]
I just want to ask about the mental preparation of the team. They're playing in a difficult political environment, but also on top of that, this horrible natural disaster. In terms of bringing them together as a team to be mentally ready for this kind of a huge event, how much of a challenge is that?
[Jonathan Trott:]
I'm not sure. I'm not a politician so I can't really comment on the political side of it. But I know certainly with the natural disaster that's been and everybody thoughts go out to everybody affected with that. But this side is certainly feeling that. They feel for their countrymen and women and kids and they're doing everything they can to raise funds to support them.
We had a meeting, when we got here to Delhi as a side and straightaway, you know the various players have donated a lot of money towards their own charities, organizations and foundations that are doing as much as they can from here, from a remote sort of place.
It's a difficult time, but the players certainly know that their performances here will bring a joy and happiness to the country, and they want their country to be proud of them and certainly in that changing room I went in there now they are very disappointed with losing but also, they got to remember that there's seven more games to go for this World Cup, and there's plenty of opportunity to put in good performances and make everyone in Afghanistan proud.
[Reporter:]
Afghanistan now has the experience of playing in World Cups, be the T20 World Cup or the 50-over World Cup. So, what is the next step in terms of their development that you're aiming for?
[Jonathan Trott:]
I think it's to have a group of players, have a squad of players so in any conditions all around the world that we can be competitive and play in.
These conditions certainly would suit us, but it's the next frontier is going to the likes of Australia or England and having players that can play in those types of additions, but also dominate, like we saw the Indian players dominate today.
I think different variations with regards to spinners, we're quite spin focused, but I think having Navin back in our side boosts our seam attack, but certainly being able to have seam bowlers that can bowl all around the world in different conditions helps. There's lots of things to work on.
I think our fielding has improved at times as well. I think one thing I'm very impressed with and a lot of credit goes to the guys - they're working incredibly hard in their fitness and their physique and their strength. It's a very fit side and they're very professional. When they're not at the ground training, they're in the gym, they're watching how they can get better. So, you know, hopefully we can get over the challenge over the next couple of games and we can register a win.