Afghanistan's head coach eyes victory against Pakistan in World Cup clash

CHENNAI: Afghanistan's head coach Jonathan Trott has advised the team against solely banking on spinners to beat Pakistan in tomorrow's World Cup clash. Instead, he believes that all the players will have to play their part to secure a victory.

The stage is set for a thrilling ICC Cricket World Cup face-off between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Chennai on Monday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium — a venue favouring spinners in recent matches.

During a press conference on Sunday, Trott stressed that while spinners play a crucial role, it's also important for the other eight players to step up and contribute towards a team effort.

Trott said: "The thing is — with spinners — there are only two or three of them playing a game. And it's the other eight as well that have to play the game so that's important."

He added: "So, it's everybody's job. It's not just the spinners' job to win games. It's a team effort."

He also highlighted the presence of seam bowlers on his team "who have got to bowl well" in any given conditions.

According to him, the key to winning is a great team performance, especially when facing a strong side like Pakistan. He also mentioned their previous ODI series against Pakistan, where they missed out on winning a few games that they could have won.

"We've had an ODI series against them recently where we should have won a few games. We didn't. So hopefully we can put that right tomorrow night,” he said.

The coach also acknowledged the rivalry between the two teams, which has resulted in some nail-biting finishes in the past. He believes that it is this rivalry that excites his team about playing against Pakistan.

“I think for them it's a rivalry that excites them. I think it's a rivalry that, sometimes, in the past, has been very passionate. We've seen Asia Cup clashes and matches that have been very exciting.

"No closer than the T20 Asia Cup last year where it went down with Pakistan won by one wicket. So, we've had very close games as well."

He added: "Hopefully, tomorrow isn't very exciting and we win by a lot."

The 42-year-old coach also shared that his team is eyeing victory in tomorrow's games, also noting that both teams "respect each other, but are very desperate to win."

Replying to a question, Trott said that his side always looks to put pressure on the opposition and that they do not have any thoughts about Pakistan's performance in the team's last two games.

"I don't think there are any thoughts with regards to their previous matches. I think when Afghanistan play Pakistan, I think there's, you know, that a lot of form doesn't come into the game.

"There's a lot of other things that come into the game with regards to the rivalry and the history of and the passion of everything. So, we know the Pakistan team will be very determined to win tomorrow and certainly want to sort of snap that losing streak of the two games,” he said.

“But again, we want to win just as much as they do, so that should be good,” he concluded.