Afghanistan (183/5) defeat Uganda (58 all out) by 125 runs in the fifth game of the ICC T20 World Cup 2024

[Cricket Warrior]

One team on the rise and another already comfortably positioned, if not at the summit of the game, then at least at its base camp. Uganda and Afghanistan will meet for the first time in an official T20I in Guyana, marking Uganda's World Cup debut.

Their last official match also took place in South America, though the two teams have never played a full-status international match. Uganda was one of the few teams to best Afghanistan during their rapid ascent through the divisions of the World Cricket League. The only previous ICC competition meeting between the two teams was at the 2009 WCL Division 3 at the St. Albans Club in Buenos Aires. In that match, a then 28-year-old Frank Nsubuga hit a counter-attacking 62 off 44 balls down the order to secure a 14-run victory for Uganda. Now 43, offspinner Nsubuga and Afghanistan's Mohammad Nabi are the only players from that match still in their respective squads.

Both teams qualified from that event for the subsequent World Cup Qualifier, but while Afghanistan's trajectory continued upward, Uganda slipped back into the Associate ranks and did not reach another pinnacle event for a decade and a half. This encounter will be their first competitive match in the T20 format, having been placed in opposite groups during the 2012 and 2013 T20 Global Qualifiers. They did, however, play a warm-up match against each other at the latter event, which Afghanistan won comfortably.

A similar result is widely expected for their Group C encounter, with conditions likely favoring Afghanistan's strong spin-bowling lineup. The Afghan spin unit, featuring global stars Rashid Khan, Nabi, and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, has led to their being tipped as dark-horse semi-finalists despite a batting lineup that, aside from Rahmanullah Gurbaz, has been inconsistent.

Uganda, on the other hand, arrives at the tournament in good form, having played 35 T20Is in the past year and winning all but five. However, all 35 matches were played closer to home, and Uganda's record outside of Africa is less impressive. Facing a full member nation for only the second time in their history (the first being their win over Zimbabwe to qualify for this event) at a venue familiar to much of the Afghan side but new to Uganda presents a challenging debut for the Cricket Cranes.


Squads:

Uganda Squad: Ronak Patel, Robinson Obuya, Alpesh Ramjani, Roger Mukasa(w), Riazat Ali Shah, Dinesh Nakrani, Brian Masaba(c), Kenneth Waiswa, Cosmas Kyewuta, Juma Miyagi, Henry Ssenyondo, Fred Achelam, Frank Nsubuga, Bilal Hassan, Simon Ssesazi

Afghanistan Squad: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Gulbadin Naib, Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Ishaq(w), Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Rashid Khan(c), Nangeyalia Kharote, Naveen-ul-Haq, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik, Karim Janat, Noor Ahmad

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[Cricket Warrior]

Rashid Khan would be enough for Uganda i guess, very basic team!

 

[Rana]

Uganda will show Babar how it’s done

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Uganda have won the toss and will bowl first


Uganda (Playing XI): Simon Ssesazi, Roger Mukasa(w), Ronak Patel, Riazat Ali Shah, Dinesh Nakrani, Robinson Obuya, Alpesh Ramjani, Brian Masaba(c), Bilal Hassan, Cosmas Kyewuta, Henry Ssenyondo

Afghanistan (Playing XI): Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Ibrahim Zadran, Gulbadin Naib, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mohammad Nabi, Najibullah Zadran, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan(c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Rashid Khan | Afghanistan captain: In T20s, you need to play a good brand of cricket, we would focus on the game rather than toss and things like that. It's a special moment for Uganda, Afghanistan was there 10-12 years ago at the same stage, it's something special for them and for us as well. Afghanistan are famous for the quality spinners and we are well prepared for the conditions.

Brian Masaba | Uganda captain: We will bowl first. Looks like a pitch where we are not sure what's a good score and we would like to chase. The idea is to grow cricket in the world and teams like Uganda, Papua New Guines need to be playing more cricket. We are very excited to be here. We needed to get information about the conditions and the previous game here helped us do that.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Uganda doing Uganda things on the field.. poor throw went for 4 runs!

 

[mominsaigol]

Uganda doing Uganda things on the field.. poor throw went for 4 runs!

Their associate and a poor team, so obviously it's one sided.

You can't blame them if their fielding like usama mir but still fielding better then azam khan

 

[mominsaigol]

One sided smash

 

[cricketmania22]

Great crowd and environment! A full house! Well done West Indies!

 

[mominsaigol]

Babar: Arei ICC yaar, uganada kei sath hum nahi khel saktei thei? I wanted my 4th t20 century

 

[Champ_Pal]

Afg will destroy these poor Ugandans.

 

[Asad T]

Thank god Afghanistan are not in our group. They would kill us

 

[mominsaigol]

Thank god Afghanistan are not in our group. They would kill us

I wish we had a group of Australia, England, South Africa, India, Pakistan.

Get rid of the leech at the start, use kei baad enjoy super 8's

 

[Inswinging Yorker]

Great crowd and environment! A full house! Well done West Indies!

LETS BE HONEST. IF THE T20 WAS IN PAKISTAN AND THE TICKET PRICES EXPENSIVE. WOULD YOU GO TO THE AFG/ UGANDA GAME?

 

[cricketmania22]

LETS BE HONEST. IF THE T20 WAS IN PAKISTAN AND THE TICKET PRICES EXPENSIVE. WOULD YOU GO TO THE AFG/ UGANDA GAME?

West Indies match had no crowd as well. Also, I was checking the ticket prices, it’s not that expensive.

 

[Asad T]

Quite cool to see that this uganda bowler was born in Gilgit, not many Pak players from that region

 

[Champ_Pal]

Afg needs to accelerate.

NRR could come into the picture in this group. They just have to beat either WI or NZ. It can get close in this group.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Masaba. where have i heard his name before? Was trending on twitter. Babar beat his captaincy record right?

 

[Asad T]

Zadran and Gurbaz were running fast!

 

[jnaveen1980]

Bowler Indian

 

[Inswinging Yorker]

West Indies match had no crowd as well. Also, I was checking the ticket prices, it’s not that expensive.

GUYANESE EARN AN AVERAGE OF 289 TO 450 US PER MONTH. MANY ARE FAR BELOW THAT. TICKET PRICES ARE 20 - 25 US AND 150 US FOR PARTY STAND. EXPENSIVE IS A SUBJECTIVE MATTER

 

[jnaveen1980]

Bowler Indian born
Fielder Pakistan born
Batsman Afghan born

 

[jnaveen1980]

Very impressive come back by Uganda. Bowling is good. Catching is good. Absolutely choked Afghanistan.

 

[Asad T]

Very impressive come back by Uganda. Bowling is good. Catching is good. Absolutely choked Afghanistan.

yup, lets see how they bat

 

[Asad T]

Very impressive come back by Uganda. Bowling is good. Catching is good. Absolutely choked Afghanistan.

yeah and their cpatain is particulary impressive

 

[jnaveen1980]

Outstanding bowling by Masaba. Thinking on the feet all the time.

 

[jnaveen1980]

last 6.2 overs 24 runs !! That is amazing. Not even regular teams can restrict as well as Uaganda

 

[jnaveen1980]

With enough experience these guys can be very good

 

[jnaveen1980]

They have held on to all their catches. Also love their celebration.

 

[lontje]

Did well to pull the run rate back. They will need to start well with the bat to keep things interesting but may be too difficult an ask with this Total and Afghans bowling

 

[cricketmania22]

This shows T20 format is the best format to grow the game. All these associate nations have been impressive so far.

 

[Asad T]

They have held on to all their catches. Also love their celebration.

yeah, reminds me of the black-panther greeting

 

[jnaveen1980]

Last 6 overs 30 runs for 5 wickets !!

 

[Champ_Pal]

Poor ending by Afg. They are at least 50 short of what they could've easily achieved. Lost wickets and the new batsmen struggled.

 

[lontje]

With enough experience these guys can be very good

It's legit more interesting and entertaining watching the growth of teams like Netherlands Scotland even this Uganda team for improvement potential compared to the otherwise around where there is a higher expectation of how pakistan should be playing and how underwhelming their performance usually is

 

[jnaveen1980]

It's legit more interesting and entertaining watching the growth of teams like Netherlands Scotland even this Uganda team for improvement potential compared to the otherwise around where there is a higher expectation of how pakistan should be playing and how underwhelming their performance usually is

This format bridges the gap massively. It is only when the format becomes longer that things get exposed. If there is not enough bench strength teams will stagnate and become like associate sides who can be good only in this format. In certain conditions you could get beaten like how West Indies failed to qualify for the ODI world cup in zimbabwe conditions. Heck even Zimbabwe got eliminated.

 

[lontje]

This shows T20 format is the best format to grow the game. All these associate nations have been impressive so far.

Only way really-viewership aside the best format to see more potential upsets from the underdog teams

 

[lontje]

4 first ball from the big man

 

[lontje]

Oh gone next ball!

 

[emranabbas]

This is going to be a very short innings

 

[jnaveen1980]

This is Afghanistan's strength. So Uganda might get blown away.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Hatrick missed by inches.

 

[mominsaigol]

I do wanna say Afghanistan is a better team then Pakistan. Their pacers are swinging it something that our best bowler shaheen can't do instead he over pitches it. And their opening batter just have more intent.

 

[jnaveen1980]

I do wanna say Afghanistan is a better team then Pakistan. Their pacers are swinging it something that our best bowler shaheen can't do instead he over pitches it. And their opening batter just have more intent.

If they learn to seize the big moments they will do a lot better. In world cup their chasing was impeccable. But for poor catching they could have slayed Australia as well.

 

[emranabbas]

Don't know what's happening here masaba is the best captain with most wins after babar azam

 

[Asif321]

Don’t see WI beating Afghans

 

[jnaveen1980]

18 for 5. First time i see these guys bat. wow. How did this Masaba dude achieve captaincy record with this batting unit.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Don’t see WI beating Afghans

It will be a disasterfor hosts if Windies doesn't advance through to next round like in 2022. Their NRR is also poor against PNG.

 

[jnaveen1980]

If Afghanistan beats WI, WI beats NZ and NZ beats Aghanisstan it will come down to NRR.

 

[mominsaigol]

If they learn to seize the big moments they will do a lot better. In world cup their chasing was impeccable. But for poor catching they could have slayed Australia as well.

I was suffering heart attacks during the Australia game lol. Tbh I didn't expect maxwell to happen, but maxwell got lucky on being dropped in 29

 

[emranabbas]

Afghanistan have improved their game india and ipl has helped them alot

Afghanistan are better than Bangladesh Sri Lanka and on par with pakistan if not better

 

[mominsaigol]

Afghanistan have improved their game india and ipl has helped them alot

Afghanistan are better than Bangladesh Sri Lanka and on par with pakistan if not better

Imo the teams of this cup from strongest to weakest are

0) Bradman Rizwan
1) South africa( When batting first)
2) Australia
3) England
4) India
5) New Zealand
6) Afghanistan
7) West Indies
8) Pakistan
9) South Africa (When chasing)
10) Sri lanka
11) USA
12) Ireland
13) Canada
14) Bangladesh
15) (Everyone else, although Uganada is defo weaker then Oman and Nambia from what I've seem so far)

 

[BouncerGuy]

This is how you start the inning, especially in the powerplay.

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[BouncerGuy]

4 fours in an over by Ibrahim Zadran.

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[BouncerGuy]

Hatrick missed by inches.

Beautiful in-swingers by Fazal e haq Farooq.

This guy has now taken a 5-wicket haul for just 7 runs against Uganda. Absolute carnage.

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[Mesozoic]

I have seen better batting standards from school-going early teens in our local maidans here in India than from this Ugandan "National team".

I'm all for more inclusion and participation in world cups but this just ain't it.

 

[BouncerGuy]

I have seen better batting standards from school-going early teens in our local maidans here in India than from this Ugandan "National team".

I'm all for more inclusion and participation in world cups but this just ain't it.

Yeah, brother. What else can we expect from this side?

They are good for associate games only I guess.

 

[mominsaigol]

I have seen better batting standards from school-going early teens in our local maidans here in India than from this Ugandan "National team".

I'm all for more inclusion and participation in world cups but this just ain't it.

That's because your school going early teens have the infrastructure.

India in 10 years went from 10th largest economy to 3rd largest economy. In the next century aka 22nd century, their literally expected to be no 1 and become an unstoppable nation eclipsing USA by miles.

You guys literally have your own silicon Valley, your own Hollywood, your own shark tank, your own reality TV, your own game shows and your own educational standards while Pakistan has to desperately rely on British education.

Why wouldnt you have the sporting infrastructure? Uganda has none, their a poor nation.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Total domination by the Afghans. 125 run victory will give them a huge NRR boost.

 

[mominsaigol]

Total domination by the Afghans. 125 run victory will give them a huge NRR boost.

Maybe my Afghanistan dark horse prediction isn't so bad after all.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Maybe my Afghanistan dark horse prediction isn't so bad after all.

Yeah, bro. They can do something unexpected in this world cup.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Clinical Afghanistan too strong for Uganda in Guyana

An excpetional opening stand and Fazalhaq Farooqi's five-wicket haul gave Afghanistan a 125-run win against Uganda in Guyana.

Toss: Uganda won the toss and elected to field

Fazalhaq Farooqi gave Afghanistan the perfect start dismissing Ronak Patel (4) and Roger Mukasa (0) off back-to-back deliveries. While he missed out on a hat-trick, with Riazat Ali Shah surviving by the barest of margins, Afghanistan had their third when Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed Simon Ssezai for 4.

When Naveen-ul-Haq the third bowler to be introduced in the game, picked two wickets in his first over, Uganda were in dire straits at 18/5.

A brief stand between Riazat Ali and Robinson Obuya steadied the ship temporarily, but Farooqi returned to deliver further blows and strengthen Afghanistan's grasp on the game. Farooqi finished with 5/9, while the finishing blows were delivered by skipper Rashid Khan.

Best bowling figures in Men's T20 World Cup

Player	Team	Opponent	Year	Figures
Ajantha Mendis	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	2012	6/8
Rangana Herath	Sri Lanka	New Zealand	2014	5/3
Umar Gul	Pakistan	New Zealand	2009	5/6
Fazalhaq Farooqi	Afghanistan	Uganda	2024	5/9
Sam Curran	England	Afghanistan	2022	5/10

Farooqi was named Player of the Match for his electric performance. His figures were the fourth best in a Men's T20 World Cup.

Brian Masaba won the toss and elected to bowl first. Masaba wanted to restrict Afghanistan to a chaseable total.

Afghanistan openers took off in no time, taking advantage of decent batting conditions, where the ball came onto the bat and the outfield was good. Lack of discipline from Uganda in the field also helped add to the Afghanistan total. Gurbaz took the lead initially, but Zadran joined him soon after hitting four fours in a row in the sixth over. Afghanistan were going at 11 runs an over at the end of first powerplay.

The flurry of boundaries continued for Gurbaz and Zadran as the Uganda bowlers found the going tough against to set batters. Gurbaz brought up his fifty in the ninth over, his first-ever in T20 World Cups, hitting four sixes and two fours on the way.

Afghanistan had already crossed the 100-run mark by the 10th over. An eventful 25-run over from Bilal Shah, that included five no balls and five wides, helped Afghanistan pace past 150. Finally, it was Brian Masaba who brought Uganda their first wicket in the competition, getting one to stay low and cleaning up Ibrahim Zadran.

Highest opening partnership at Men's T20 World Cup

Batter 1	Batter 2	Team	Opposition	Year	Stand
Alex Hales	Jos Buttler	England	India	2022	170*
Rahmanullah Gurbaz	Ibrahim Zadran	Afghanistan	Uganda	2024	154
Mohammad Rizwan	Babar Azam	Pakistan	India	2021	152*
Devon Smith	Chris Gayle	West Indies	South Africa	2007	145
Salman Butt	Kamran Akmal	Pakistan	Bangladesh	2010	142

Experienced tweaker Alpesh Ramjani and Masaba then picked two more over the next couple of overs to clean up the Afghanistan top-order. The Cricket Cranes got their act right in the death, conceding 22 runs for merely three wickets in the final four overs.

ICC

 

[Cric_lover4487]

This is why i prefer 10 team world cup. Too many one-sided matches kill the vibe and hype. Waiting for super-8 to start.

 

[GillEdits]

Beautiful in-swingers by Fazal e haq Farooq.

This guy has now taken a 5-wicket haul for just 7 runs against Uganda. Absolute carnage.

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Farooqi was twice on the brink of claiming a hat-trick, today.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Watch how Afghanistan smashed Uganda today.

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[mominsaigol]

This is why i prefer 10 team world cup. Too many one-sided matches kill the vibe and hype. Waiting for super-8 to start.

I think group stages were done to promote cricket in USA only and encourage more teams to participate.

Super 8 will be your customary top sides. Only downside is the NZ, afg and wi group one of these boys will have to sit the S8 out

 

[Cric_lover4487]

I think group stages were done to promote cricket in USA only and encourage more teams to participate.

Super 8 will be your customary top sides. Only downside is the NZ, afg and wi group one of these boys will have to sit the S8 out

Only people who give a crap about cricket in USA are desi immigrants. You can see empty stadiums everyday. If ICC wanted to promote cricket in USA they should have been bold enough to schedule matches in evening time. Only desis will go to stadium at 6 am to watch cricket.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

This is a big win for Afghanistan because of the NRR boost. And if the New Zealand match gets rained out, their chances of going through to the next round might just increase too.

 

[MANU ROY]

How uganda beat Zimbabwe

 

[mominsaigol]

Only people who give a crap about cricket in USA are desi immigrants. You can see empty stadiums everyday. If ICC wanted to promote cricket in USA they should have been bold enough to schedule matches in evening time. Only desis will go to stadium at 6 am to watch cricket.

Bro I said it was done to promote cricket. I didn't say it wasn't a total failure lol.

The USA commentators are so bad, he was saying things such as

- The batters should try to run in a straight line, but instead they run like snakes.

- Bowlers should not bowl knuckle balls as it slows the ball and it'll allow batters to easily hit a home run.

- I wonder why the keeper wears 2 gloves, he should try wearing only one glove so that with his free hand he can pitch it In hard.

Probs the worst commentator I've ever seen, Sachin was better then this doofus, and Sachin doesn't even commentate, all Sachin does is endlessly talk about 2003 lol

 

[Energy]

Yet another meaningless match. What did we get out of it? Good it's at the time when the world is sleeping.

 

[Cric_lover4487]

Bro I said it was done to promote cricket. I didn't say it wasn't a total failure lol.

The USA commentators are so bad, he was deada@s saying things such as

- The batters should try to run in a straight line, but instead they run like snakes.

- Bowlers should not bowl knuckle balls as it slows the ball and it'll allow batters to easily hit a home run.

- I wonder why the keeper wears 2 gloves, he should try wearing only one glove so that with his free hand he can pitch it In hard.

Probs the worst commentator I've ever seen, Sachin was better then this doofus, and Sachin doesn't even commentate, all Sachin does is endlessly talk about 2003 lol

Sachin talks like Uncle who keeps bringing "Beta hamare jamane mein ye hota tha, aajkal ki generation mein vo bat nahi hai" in any conversation about anything.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Can we talk about commentary stuff in a relevant thread, please?

Not here

 

[mominsaigol]

Sachin talks like Uncle who keeps bringing "Beta hamare jamane mein ye hota tha, aajkal ki generation mein vo bat nahi hai" in any conversation about anything.

Sachin is the 2nd worst commentator I've ever seen, nothing beats this American doofus

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Jonathan Trott (Afghanistan Coach) post-match Press Conference - 3rd June 2024

[Reporter:]

Overall a very formidable performance, of course, against maybe a low-ranked opponent. This is the way perhaps Afghanistan would want to stamp their authority. A really, like, tremendous performance both with the bat and ball. So as a coach, pleasing start with the tournament because, of course, we were discussing this with the captain yesterday as well a lot of people think that Afghanistan are a real force especially in these conditions and maybe even a semi-final contender who knows after what happens after that.

[Jonathan Trott:]

Yeah I think obviously you want to start well and you want to be one from one and sort of kick your tournament off. So to do that and win convincingly is very pleasing.

I think obviously our opening partnership was really good and set a great platform. I think obviously we didn't capitalize on it as much as we could and that's something we need to work on going forward. So, the exciting thing is there's still things we can do better and as a coach that's obviously the challenge for the players but also exciting for us if we can get that right.

I think yes a lot of people have spoken us up - but again you know cricket can change very quickly and we've got to take it one game at a time. So the only thing we're focused on I know it's very boring very cliche but is our match against New Zealand who are a very good side so I'm looking forward to that.

[Reporter:]

One, in terms of this group, it's a bit of a dicey group. It was important to get a big win you would say to increase net run rate, giving you better conditions in the Caribbean as well, you would want to have a good net run rate.

And two, could you give me some insight in terms of the impact Dwayne Bravo has had on this team thus far?

[Jonathan Trott:]

Yeah, I think in a tight group with the quality of sides, yes, Net Run Rate may play its part. I don't worry too much about the weather and the rain, and that's up to the cricketing gods. But I think it's more of a confidence boost the way that we played and finished off the game as well. I think Fazal [Farooqi] played really well, bowled really well, and helped the whole team play really well. So that's pleasing.

DJ [Dwayne Bravo] coming into the side, fantastic. I think as a head coach, having quality coaches, also with huge experience as players, but also vast franchise experience in this format of the game, only a brilliant thing to have a player like him coming to the side as coach and it makes your job a lot easier but it also makes the coaching more enhanced and especially with the bowlers. We've seen the start of his first game with us and we saw the bowlers bowl really well - so credit to Dwayne, credit to Hamid Hassan also - a bowling coach as well so nice start for the boys.

[Reporter:]

There are areas that you guys need to improve on going forward given the fact this tournament is huge? Some of the areas you guys want to work on as you go forward?

[Jonathan Trott:]

Yeah I think finishing the innings. I think coming into the tournament and starting on these wickets, especially against a slightly older ball, is a little bit tricky. So we've got to get better at that. As was said, we only scored 30-odd in the last six overs. And with the platform we had, we should have done a bit better. We shuffled the order a little bit, and maybe that's our fault a little bit, as coaches, decision making, mixing the order up a little bit left, right hand. We want to look at that and hopefully get that right next game. There's always areas to improve. Fielding, bowling, death bowling, variations, boundary hitting. So we're looking to improve the whole time.

[Reporter:]

Apart from Gurbaz and Ibrahim innings, the middle order didn't click today as well. You think it's like Afghanistan old problem or you have to work on it for the next couple of matches we have here. Also, do you think Afghanistan will qualify for a Super 8?

[Jonathan Trott:]

I think, as I said, it's quite tricky coming in and finding that tempo when you've just been sitting on the side and the other players have made it look really easy. But yeah, we would like to have done better, all the players would have liked to have done better in the last [few] overs, but I think we saw when we bowled how tricky that pitch actually was and I think how easy and how well Ibrahim and Gurbaz played. I think maybe that's a better way to look at it that they played and made the pitch look a lot easier.

We saw when we bowled the ball was still nipping around and also spinning. So sometimes we also have to give credit to Uganda and the way that they bowled. So there's a lots of things we could say, it's not just that we could have been better or there's a problem I think sometimes the game doesn't allow you, or things that don't always go your way.

Whether we'll qualify for the Super 8’s I will tell you after our last group game - then I'll be able to answer you.

[Reporter:]

Coach, last question about two star performers for you today, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and just the way especially he's come through in the last year. He's had a phenomenal run in tournaments around the world. And of course, for Afghanistan, he's played some great innings as well. These two, how much have they added? The openers I'm talking about. And of course, Fazalhaq Farooqi as well, again, has had a tremendous year around the world. And for your team as well. So these two youngsters, this team of course maybe is not about Rashid Khan or your spinners anymore, you've got great batters and bowler - I'm talking about like fast bowlers. So in terms of these two, like these additions, these strengths, if you can explain what has really been done with them and what has made them such world beaters.

[Jonathan Trott:]

I think when you've got young players coming through who want to do as well as they do, I think they have the hunger and desire to improve themselves, but also they want to win for the side. I think that's a potent combination and as a coach it makes your job really easy. It's about just being constant with them and your messaging and what they need to work on. The thing that was pleasing for me was the way that they batted. They didn't try and hit or slog the ball. They played some fantastic cricket shots. And that's a pleasing thing, that they don't have to go out there and force it. They naturally score quickly. But it's about being able to do both. If the conditions suggest that they can't score at that pace, they need to be able to adapt. And obviously, Gurbaz going to the IPL and not playing. And then being called upon in the last couple of games and being able to perform shows the strength of character, but also the skill and the determination to do well.

So I'm very pleased that he was able to play in the IPL and they gave him a few warm-up games for the World Cup, and so we get players in form and being one of nine players at the IPL I think it must be a record for Afghanistan and hopefully it only becomes more but the more that the guys play in pressure tournaments like that, exposure to crowds and playing with world-class players and coaches – it’s only going to improve the standard of our players and very exciting.

[Reporter:]

A quick word on Farooqi as well?

[Jonathan Trott:]

Yes obviously another person's been to the IPL for a couple of months, didn't play but his work - looks like he's worked really hard in his game and very pleased for him today the way that he was able to bowl and stuck to his plans and showed his skill that he is able to swing the ball and take wickets early always creates trouble for the opposition and gets us going in the right direction.