Afghanistan’s assistant coach has condemned the clash between fans of Afghanistan and Pakistan after the team’s defeat at a press conference on Wednesday. Raees Ahmadzai expressed disappointment at the behavior of his players and fans following the team’s defeat to Pakistan in a final thriller. Speaking to the reporters, the coach also shed light on the lessons of the tournament’s team. He praised the team for their performance in the Asian Cup and said they would apply the lessons in the next tournament they play.
The assistant coach said: “I think we did very well, especially the young guys. They were first elected on the national side and they did well. Especially for the first two wins, what we did against Pak was bad luck. A good learning process for our players before the World Cup. And if they play against players like Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, they will learn and apply it in the future in World Cup matches. So they also have to play against players from Pakistani team they got to see and learn from good players.”
Talking about the performance in the match against India, he noticed that the back-to-back matches made it difficult for the players.
“To be honest, everyone was still in a panic from the last game. We played back-to-back games, which is not easy. We did our best. When we looked at the pitch, we thought of Indian team to a score of 170-180, but sometimes it can happen. If you drop the catch of a good player like Virat Kohli, I’m sure he won’t give you a chance,” added Ahmadzai.
The Afghan coach was also happy to see Virat Kohli finally break through the jinx and score a century after more than 1000 days in international cricket.
Appreciating Virat’s knock, he said: “First, very happy to see him score a hundred after such a long time. The way he played it was a totally different Virat Kohli. Happy to see him play such shots where He is known for in the He played good innings, everyone knows that our bowling attack is not easy, but the way he played was fantastic.”
Raees has been very vocal about the reaction of the public doing the rounds on the internet and criticized such behaviour.
“I think the players are well aware of the rules and regulations of the game, but sometimes in the heat of the battle, sometimes you have no control and it comes out. The public has to understand that this is just a game and that sport should be treated like sport not be involved in anything critical or anything But then again if you say something it’s different but physical violence is something every player should avoid sledding or talking to someone is different but the rules and regulations do not allow you to do physical violence. Another experience for our players. We will inform our players to stay within the limit and not to exceed it,” added the coach.
Ahmadzai also acknowledged that the more cricket the team plays with the top teams in the world, the better they will learn to control their emotions in such tense and pressured situations.
He praised new coach Jonathan Trott, saying: “He joined us during the Ireland series and has done a really good job for us, talking to players and understanding what they need. He has done good for us.”
India beat Afghanistan in an emphatic fashion on Thursday, with Virat Kohli finally coming to the fore and scoring his 71st international century.
Riding the charismatic century of Virat and the half century of stand-in captain KL Rahul, India racked up a massive 212 for the loss of two wickets.
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Afghanistan never really got going and was rocked by pacemaker Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s great bowling in the power play. The bowler completed the match with five wickets to his name and became the leading Indian wicket taker in T20Is. He overtook Yuzvendra Chahal, who held the record.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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