18 October - Chennai - Afghanistan Coach Jonathan Trott post-match press conference
[Reporter:]
So, after that dramatic win against England, this is surely a tough loss for Afghanistan. So, there was a phase where Afghanistan did give New Zealand a scare after that four-wicket spell. It was seeming that everything was going right, but all of a sudden, the momentum entirely shifted. So, we understand that Latham and Phillips batted extremely well during that phase, but what went wrong for Afghanistan at that phase?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Yeah, I think that they played well, but they got themselves in as we saw as soon as our batsmen got in a little bit, it became a little bit easier to bat on the track. But we couldn't do that for long enough, unfortunately, when we batted today. And so, we also dropped two catches - I think we dropped Latham twice which cost us a little bit, so yeah not good.
But credit must go to the way that they held the innings together because it could have got a lot worse for them, but the way that they played, they steadied the ship and got themselves to a defendable total.
[Reporter:]
There were too many catches dropped. Is it due to the weight of expectations that the team put themselves on after the stunning victory against England because - generally the team are quite good with on the field so just a thought
[Jonathan Trott:]
I would say that it's not the pressure. I think it's been happening a bit too much recently as well since I've been in charge. So, if you look at the statistics, unfortunately the side is right at the bottom with regards to catching. So that needs to improve and I think it's something we've worked really hard on in training we just need to do it in games now.
[Reporter:]
I have another question Rashid Khan is your ace bowler but for some strange reason he's not coming in into the power play or early - is there a tactics that you have been following for a while or any reasons for that?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Well, just waiting until the state of the balls when Rashid feels like he can grip it because he obviously needs to bowl or spin it both ways and when the ball is not as new and not as slippery. So, it's at that sort of stage.
But also, we were bowling well, I thought, and containing them decently. Then Azmat came on and changed the course of the game with two wickets in and over. And then Rash got a wicket himself. And then the way that they played was really good and showed our players, our batsmen, how to build a partnership but also carry a partnership.
[Reporter:]
I think one of the biggest differences was in the fielding. New Zealand fielders stopped a lot of runs and took catches. So mainly what went wrong on the fielding side with your side?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Well, we dropped a catch in the second over and we dropped a few catches, really. We dropped Ravindra on nought, we dropped Young on nought. So that sort of gives a little bit of momentum to the opposition. I think if we had taken those and with the wicket of Conway, we would have been in a much better position as well. Not only like they were, I think they were about 116 for four at one stage, if I'm not mistaken. So, we would have been in an even better position had we held on to those catches. But it wasn't to be and unfortunately, we have to go home regretting those tonight.
[Reporter:]
Azamat has been one of the positives for your side in this World Cup and he had a particularly strong Bangladesh Premier League as well, so can you just talk about how he's come along as an all-rounder in the recent months?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Well, yeah, I see him with a very bright future with the bat and with the ball. I think the way he bats at the moment is developing really well and he is playing nicely. I would have liked him to have batted for a bit longer tonight and get a few more runs, but I've always rated him as a bowler and his bowling is coming on leaps and bounds unfortunately today, he couldn't quite get it right in the death overs when you needed him to. That was unfortunate and perhaps put them slightly ahead of where they should have been at one stage.
[Reporter:]
Yesterday your captain Shahid said he is not very satisfied with the batting performance, like the middle order is not able to click. But after today, what's your take on your batters?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Well, I certainly did not feel it's a 130-odd all-out pitch, that's for sure. Yes, it did spin a little bit more towards the end. But I still feel we were taking the spinners for nearly five, six and over. The seamers actually did all the damage really for them and I think we were 28 for 2 at the end of the first power play, which when you're chasing 280 is probably going to put a lot of pressure on the players down the order.
[Reporter:]
I think world of cricket has moved on from the fact that they don't look at surprises when smaller teams kind of beat some of the larger teams like we had in Netherlands yesterday, we had yourself with England. But do you think the next challenge now is to back a really good performance with a consistent second performance? And what needs to be done to kind of take that next step, you feel?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Well, I certainly feel that that is what's needed. I think that's the only thing really stopping this team is doing the basics really well and that's consistency. So, if we had taken our catches and put New Zealand under pressure like we should have, I think you'd be looking at, not saying it would have changed the results as a fact, but you would have been looking at a very different performance. And that starts with the mindset of doing the things that seem really simple, but doing those day in, day out, regularly, and religiously. It's always standing in good stead, because they're generally the things that will look after you when you're out there under pressure. And that's what's exposed us today, unfortunately.
[Reporter:]
Something that worked for you in the last game was putting runs on the board, putting the opposition under pressure. Was there a thought given to that when you won the toss that maybe let's bat first, let's put runs on the board?
[Jonathan Trott:]
Well, yeah, we looked at the previous two games and it's starting to do up a little bit now. So, yeah, it's something we probably could have done better and I certainly think it's not a score that we got bowled out for, 136 I think it was, something like that. But yeah, we could have perhaps looked at batting first, but I'm not saying that it would have completely changed the result, but there are certain things that if we had done better, we would have put ourselves in a much better position.
[Reporter:]
You mentioned about Rashid preferring to bowl with a softer [ball] - when the ball gets off, and when the team is bowling second under lights on surface like this, they seem to get a lot more purchase. So, what do you think the Afghanistan spinners are lacking when it comes to bowling first on surfaces like this? Because on a very attacking note and then when the partnership built, they were trying to maintain the pressure, but they couldn't get the breakthroughs. So where do you think that, while bowling first, where do you think that Afghanistan needs to make some improvements?
[Jonathan Trott:]
I think if we look at bowling first, I think sometimes we expect our spinners to rip through the opposition. I think there's that expectation on them. And when the wicket's not as responsive, perhaps, then they're under a bit more pressure.
I think it's everybody's responsibility to bowl with the spinners and create pressure at the other side, so it's all about bowling in partnerships I think sometimes we're just not bowling in partnerships correctly. We seem to get ourselves in real good positions at times like we did today but we just weren't able to capitalize and you know keep up that sort of pressure or that momentum.