Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott previews their must-win clash with Pakistan at the Cricket World Cup
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00:00 Good morning.
00:02 Good morning.
00:04 Everyone, pretty much press conference here.
00:06 We have today's host, Jonathan Trott.
00:08 And if you have any questions,
00:10 you've got the mic back here.
00:12 Go right.
00:14 Hi Trott, morning.
00:16 So,
00:18 so,
00:20 going back to the England game,
00:22 we saw your spinners,
00:24 Rashid and Mujib, making
00:26 quite an impact.
00:28 Are we ready?
00:30 Yeah.
00:32 So, as I was saying,
00:34 the spinners made quite an impact in that game.
00:36 And now,
00:38 you're in Chennai,
00:40 where the track is considered a spinners' den.
00:42 Also, you have been here
00:44 and practicing for nearly a week now.
00:46 So, how confident are you that your spinners
00:48 can pull off another upset
00:50 against the Pakistan?
00:52 The thing is,
00:54 with spinners, there are only two or three of them
00:56 playing a game, and it's the other eight as well
00:58 that have to play the game.
01:00 So that's important.
01:02 So, it's everybody's job.
01:04 It's not just the spinners' job to win games.
01:06 There's batsmen who've got to put runs on the board,
01:08 or batsmen who've got to chase down a total.
01:10 So, yes, the spinners are important,
01:12 and getting our selection is key
01:14 for the fixture.
01:16 But it's a team effort.
01:18 There's no reliance
01:20 on just spinners.
01:22 There's seam bowlers as well who've got to bowl well,
01:24 and bowl well in whatever
01:26 conditions we're confronted with.
01:28 How is a wicket like?
01:30 Will it be a spinners'
01:32 for both sides?
01:34 And you'll see most of the teams have been talking about
01:36 sorting out Rashid Khan.
01:38 The last few months, he's got only one wicket now.
01:40 So, how is it like,
01:42 a mental mindset for this game?
01:44 Sorry, you've asked a few questions here.
01:48 Let me ask the first one.
01:50 The pitch, obviously, I'm not sure.
01:52 Chennai is normally a good wicket.
01:54 So, with regards to the mindset,
01:58 it's important. As I said, the mindset
02:00 we have there is that it's a team game.
02:02 It's not just a spinners' game they play.
02:04 There's seamers and there's fielders as well.
02:06 So everybody's got to put in a good team performance
02:08 if we want to beat the likes of a strong side
02:10 like Pakistan.
02:12 We've had an ODI series against
02:14 them recently where we
02:16 should have won a few games.
02:18 We didn't. So hopefully we can
02:20 put that right tomorrow night.
02:22 Hi, John. You spoke about playing
02:26 a recent series against Pakistan.
02:28 And Asmat has also played a bit of PSL.
02:30 So, I believe he's played with
02:32 Peshawar under Babas' captaincy.
02:34 So, how much of that intel would
02:36 help you into this game?
02:38 It's not just the people
02:40 who have played with.
02:42 It's the whole team's responsibility
02:44 every time we play against an opposition
02:46 to have a look and see what
02:48 their areas are or how we're going to
02:50 get them out in the future or if we face bowlers.
02:52 How are we going to be able to score runs against them
02:54 or play against them in the future. It's not just one player.
02:56 Perhaps he's got a bit of inside info.
02:58 He's practiced with them or
03:00 spent a bit of time off the field.
03:02 I think it's the responsibility of everyone
03:04 and us as coaches as well
03:06 to come up with plans to execute
03:08 tomorrow night.
03:10 Coach,
03:12 you think this is a must-win game for Afghanistan?
03:14 Fifth match, having lost
03:16 three out of four?
03:18 Every game is a must-win game.
03:20 This is a World Cup
03:22 and every game
03:24 is important.
03:26 I don't see the other matches
03:28 just as more important as this.
03:30 There's a bit of rivalry as well with this game.
03:32 I guarantee you
03:34 my side is
03:36 very excited
03:38 and looking forward to hopefully
03:40 pulling away a win.
03:42 Jonathan,
03:44 before this World Cup,
03:46 Pakistan Cricket Board requested ICC
03:48 to shift the venue of
03:50 Pakistan-Afghanistan match.
03:52 Do you think this is weakling for
03:54 Pakistan that they are
03:56 fear about spin-balling
03:58 of Afghanistan?
04:00 I don't know about that.
04:02 I don't know about them wanting to. I'm not sure
04:06 about changing the venue. I have no idea about that.
04:08 I think Pakistan have got good
04:10 spinners themselves.
04:12 Again, it's not a case of the
04:14 spinners for me. It's a case of everyone doing
04:16 their job.
04:18 When the ball is in the air, catching it. When the ball is on the ground, fielding it.
04:20 When you're batting, when you've got your bat
04:22 in your hand, making sure that you
04:24 are representing the side well and doing
04:26 what the team needs you to do.
04:28 That's it at that situation.
04:30 Naitul Haq, Yasini
04:32 from BBC Afghan.
04:34 Last match, Azmat took
04:36 two wickets in one hour.
04:38 Coming to Pakistan and Afghanistan,
04:40 both teams have lost. Pakistan lost two
04:42 and Afghanistan lost one in the last two matches.
04:44 Both will be trying to get points.
04:46 It is a big challenge.
04:48 What do you think?
04:50 What have you learned from the failures of
04:52 last match? The fielding,
04:54 seven catches dropped,
04:56 batting collapsed. You must have
04:58 come with a new plan for this match.
05:00 What were you saying
05:02 about Azmat? Azmat took
05:04 two wickets in one hour.
05:06 People were thinking that spin will be
05:08 shining in this match.
05:10 But the fast bowler
05:12 was good too.
05:14 That's what I'm saying. It's not just about the
05:16 spinners. Everyone's good at bowl well.
05:18 Obviously,
05:20 drop catches don't help, especially when you
05:22 win the toss and bowl first. You want to put the opposition
05:24 under pressure. We had an opportunity
05:26 to do that with New Zealand.
05:28 We had them, I think it was about 115
05:30 for four as well at one stage.
05:32 We let them get away.
05:34 Obviously, there are things you'd like
05:36 to do differently. There are things you
05:38 could do better. We'll be looking
05:40 tomorrow to do that.
05:42 Coach, you spoke about the rivalry
05:46 between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
05:48 You've been with Afghanistan
05:50 for a while. Could you just talk to the players?
05:52 What does it feel like for this rivalry?
05:54 Could you just explain
05:56 what does it mean for Afghanistan players about
05:58 this new rivalry?
06:00 I think for them,
06:02 it's a
06:04 rivalry that excites them.
06:06 I think it's a rivalry that sometimes in the past
06:08 has been very passionate. We've seen
06:10 Asia Cup clashes and matches
06:12 that have been very exciting.
06:14 No closer than
06:18 the T20
06:20 Asia Cup
06:22 last year, where it went down with Pakistan
06:24 one by one wicked.
06:26 We've had very close games as well.
06:28 They've been very good, very
06:30 interesting and exciting games.
06:32 Hopefully tomorrow isn't very
06:34 exciting and we win by a lot.
06:36 I'm sure we'll see an exciting
06:38 game tomorrow. It's just the nature
06:40 of the rivalry.
06:42 Both teams, I think, respect each other
06:46 but are very desperate to win.
06:48 I'm looking forward to it.
06:50 Jonathan, the two games
06:52 where you were batting first,
06:54 is there a sense of freedom when you're setting a
06:56 target rather than chasing?
06:58 Considering the quality of bowling attack,
07:00 not only the spinners, even the paces have been
07:02 fairly good. Would you
07:04 prefer to put a total, irrespective of
07:06 take a dew and things out of the
07:08 equation and just focus on putting
07:10 runs on board and just use
07:12 age-old one-day cricket
07:14 going back to the 90s, 2000s, put runs on board
07:16 and then restrict the opposition on a
07:18 pitch where it could become slow
07:20 and your spinners are probably
07:22 the best in the world.
07:24 I think it's a valid
07:26 point.
07:28 As you've seen throughout the World Cup, winning the toss
07:30 doesn't necessarily mean that
07:32 you've got an advantage in the game.
07:34 It's about making sure whatever you do first,
07:36 you put the opposition under pressure
07:38 whatever you do first.
07:40 If you're bowling first, you make sure you take your catches
07:42 and you bowl accurately and you restrict them
07:44 so you can chase.
07:46 Irrespective of
07:48 the pitch or the dew factors that come in.
07:50 We've got to play cricket well from the start.
07:54 It's nothing to do with
07:56 batting or bowling first. We've got to be better
07:58 at the start.
08:00 We saw against England, we were good at the start
08:02 and we managed to get a victory. Against New Zealand
08:04 we weren't that great and we
08:06 put ourselves under pressure.
08:08 Tomorrow, hopefully that turns around again.
08:10 Pakistan is coming to this match
08:14 with two back-to-back referees and both the referees
08:16 were for the heaviest margins. Do you think
08:18 Afghanistan can exploit this
08:20 situation for Pakistan and
08:22 come harsh against
08:24 them in this match?
08:26 We always look to put the opposition
08:28 under pressure straight away. We'll be looking to do
08:30 that tomorrow, obviously.
08:32 I don't think there's any
08:34 thoughts with regards
08:36 to their previous matches.
08:38 I think when Afghanistan plays
08:40 Pakistan, I think there's
08:42 a lot of form that doesn't come into the game.
08:44 There's a lot of other things that come into the game
08:46 with regards to the rivalry
08:48 and the history and the passion
08:50 of everything.
08:52 We know the Pakistan team will be very
08:54 determined to win tomorrow
08:56 and certainly
08:58 want to snap that losing streak of the two
09:00 games that you just mentioned.
09:02 But again, we want to win just as much as they do.
09:04 So, that should be good.
09:06 All good. Thank you.
09:08 Thank you.
09:08 Thank you.