T20 World Cup 2024: Jonathan Trott emphasizes the need to improve their batting ahead of Bangladesh challenge

As Afghanistan gear up for their crucial Super Eight clash against Bangladesh in the T20 World Cup 2024, head coach Jonathan Trott has emphasized the need for improvement in their batting department. Despite a morale-boosting 21-run victory over Australia, Trott pointed out that their batting was not up to the mark.

Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Ibrahim Zadran gave Afghanistan a solid start with a 118-run partnership off 15.5 overs. However, the team's momentum stalled, managing only 30 runs from the remaining 25 balls.

“I think the skill was the partnership that we had, the platform that we had, and then that enabled us to accelerate a little bit. I still don't think we batted all that well towards the end of the innings. We left a lot of runs out there, and that's something we need to work on and get better at,” Trott said in the pre-match press conference, as quoted by India Today.

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Pat Cummins' hat-trick stifled Afghanistan's batting in the death overs, preventing them from unleashing their power-hitting. Nonetheless, Afghanistan's bowlers delivered, with Gulbadin Naib and Naveen-ul-Haq taking four and three wickets respectively, bowling out Australia for 127 in 19.2 overs.

Looking forward to the Bangladesh game: Trott

Looking ahead to the match against Bangladesh, Trott believes Afghanistan’s knowledge of the conditions could be a significant advantage.

“Certainly, when you have that type of platform, you need to be able to capitalize with the amount of wickets in hand that we had. So, looking forward to the Bangladesh game, that's going to be key and how we play that. So, that's always a nice thing, having played at the venue and on the same pitch that we're playing on against Bangladesh and having a little bit of knowledge,” Trott added.

Afghanistan's record against Bangladesh is encouraging, with a 5-4 lead in T20Is. Notably, at neutral venues, Afghanistan has won all four matches against the Tigers. As the team prepares for this decisive game, fans are hopeful that they can continue their winning streak and advance to the sem-ifinals.