Afghanistan's cricket coach Jonathan Trott admitted on Saturday that his team has been performing at about 70–80 per cent of their potential and emphasised the need to step up their game quickly to break a demoralising streak of 14 consecutive World Cup defeats.
In the ongoing 10-nation tournament, Afghanistan have faced substantial losses to Bangladesh and India. Their struggles in World Cup history include losing all nine matches in the 2019 World Cup, with only one win against Scotland during their 2015 debut.
The challenges continue for Afghanistan as they are set to face defending champion England in New Delhi on Sunday.
Trott remarked, "At times we get 70–80% of it right, but the other 20–30 per cent that we don't get right really ends up costing us."
He stressed the importance of starting matches strongly, especially against a formidable side like England. Trott also emphasised the need to set a high standard with both bat and ball for the rest of the competition.
In their recent match against India, eight Afghanistan batsmen reached double figures, with Hashmatullah Shahidi scoring 80 and Azmatullah Omarzai making 62 for a total of 272. However, India secured an eight-wicket victory, with spin maestro Rashid Khan taking both wickets.
In the opening game against Bangladesh, Afghanistan's batting faltered as they collapsed from 83-1 to 156 all out, resulting in a six-wicket loss.
Trott expressed his confidence in Rashid Khan's pivotal role in the upcoming match against England, despite his somewhat subdued performance in the tournament so far. While Rashid has just two wickets in two games at the cost of 105 runs, Trott praised his dedication and passion for representing the team.
Trott added, "It's a case of the other bowlers making sure that they are on just as high a level and as switched on as Rashid normally is" to collectively create pressure and make an impact against England.
