‘We need to do it more’ - Jonathan Trott asks for better batting prowess from Afghan batters ahead of T20 World Cup

With the T20 World Cup 2024 looming on the horizon, it is safe to say that Afghanistan are being looked at as the biggest underdog ahead of the tournament. The side came into the ODI World Cup 2023 and managed to shock the world by winning four out of nine league matches in the tournament.

Instilling the sense that the side can beat any team in world cricket, they will take the same confidence into the upcoming T20 World Cup 2024. Currently, Afghanistan is engaged in a three-game T20I series against India, where the side has lost the first two games of the series. Going to Bangalore for the third and final T20I, the side’s head coach, Jonathan Trott, came forward to ask the side for more consistency with the bat for the upcoming clash against the 'Men in Blue'.

"It's a combination of all of that [batting long and batting with a better strike rate]. I think we need our batters going into the last 10 [overs]. We have seen how hard it is to stop batters in the last five overs," Trott was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

“We need to do it more if you want to compete over a series or a World Cup. So that's the challenge, but also the exciting bit that if we get those things right, we can beat anybody," he added.

We haven't played a lot of T20 cricket recently: Trott

Furthermore, Jonathan Trott also talked about how Afghanistan have not played much T20I cricket recently, and naturally, it takes a while to get settled and in the flow of the shorter format.

"We haven't played a lot of T20 cricket recently. As a side, we sort of take a while to get going with the rhythm. We saw ourselves build up towards the 50-over World Cup with the Asia Cup and the series before that. That's what I am looking to build up here,” Trott said.