INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott said no side would &ever again& take Afghanistan lightly after they knocked England out of the
Champions Trophy on Wednesday.Ibrahim Zadran&s heroic 177 helped Afghanistan post 325 against England in Lahore, before bowlers held their
nerve to seal an eight-run victory.The win comes in a series of Afghanistan&s victories against established cricketing nations at major ICC
In 2024, they defeated New Zealand and Australia en route to the T20 World Cup semi-finals, and eased past England and Pakistan at the 2023
World Cup.Trott felt that collective body of work has permanently altered perceptions of Afghanistan&s cricket side
&What happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and [now], I say this to the players: Afghanistan&s never going to be taken lightly ever
again.&In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation
But in this format, in these conditions, I don&t see that
I see every game that we play is going to be competitive and every game we go into I expect to win
Australia aren&t going to take us lightly.&That Trott&s focus has shifted immediately to Afghanistan&s final group game on Friday
demonstrates his side is focused on the tournament as a whole and not just the odd upset win
The clash against England was an eliminator for both sides but crucially, not a qualifier.&Since I&ve been coach we&ve played against
Australia three times and we&ve been in the game each of those games,& Trott said
&I&ll tell the players to enjoy tonight
I&m going to make sure when they wake up tomorrow, they&re ready for Australia immediately
The focus is on Australia
That&s how the players are going to be and that&s what I&ll tell the fans.&On Ibrahim Zaran who scored 177 off 146 balls, the highest score
in the tournament&s history, Trott said that it was a &memorable knock for him and one that he ‘ll remember for a long time.&This innings
showed the quality of Ibrahim as a player,& Trott said
&I think he played some fantastic cricket shots, certainly the straight six off Jofra Archer comes to mind, and some various other shots
I&m really pleased for him. He&s been out for a little bit of time and he&s looked a little bit out of rhythm
But hopefully he&s found it now
He&s certainly found it, but hopefully he can continue this form, which is a memorable knock for him and one that he&ll remember for a long
time but hopefully he can repeat it again on Friday.&When I took over, there was a rawness to the side
A lot of it is to do with preparation and how they think about themselves and the work they do off the field, with which you give yourself
the best chance on the field
The guys play a lot of cricket, they play a lot of franchise cricket, which is good because they&re developing and playing with the world&s
best players and seeing how they perform
They bring that experience back to the Afghanistan side and throw it in the melting pot and we get nights like this.&Cricket fans across the
country can watch all Champions Trophy matches live on Ariana Television.For updates, fixtures and schedules be sure to follow Ariana
Television and Ariana News& digital platforms. The post Afghanistan cricket team will never be taken lightly again: Trott first appeared
