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"Afghanistan play a sort of fearless cricket & that kind of team can be dangerous" : Saqlain Mushtaq
Pakistan coach Saqlain Mushtaq believes Afghanistan’s ability to play fearless cricket makes them a dangerous proposition as the sides prepare to meet at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.
Both sides have a 100 percent record in the Super 12s so far, with Pakistan recording impressive victories over rivals India and New Zealand, while Afghanistan beat Scotland by a massive 130 runs.
Pakistan also sit third in the ICC MRF Tyres Men’s T20I Team Rankings *– four places above their opponents *– but Saqlain insists there won’t be any complacency when his team take to the pitch in Dubai on Friday.
“Afghanistan are a strong unit,” said Saqlain. “We can't really say that it's very easy and you will roll over them. It's not like that.
“They have a wonderful bowling attack, especially the spinners. And when they go for batting, they just play the way they feel it, what's in their heart, what they think.
“They just go and execute the plan. They just play sort of a fearless cricket and I think that kind of team can be dangerous.
“But as I said before in my answers, you play for your pride. You don't think, well, this is a small team and this is a big team. No, not like that. Otherwise your mind will train or start thinking in that way.
“So, in the World Cup, it's a mega win. You play all the teams with the same intensity, with the same attitude, with the same sort of mindset and you execute your plan the way you execute the plan against the bigger name teams. So, Afghanistan are a good team.”
Afghanistan’s spinners played brilliantly against Scotland as Mujeeb Ur Rahman took five for 20 and Rashid Khan ended with four for nine.
Saqlain knows plenty about spin bowling, having taken 496 wickets for Pakistan during his career as an off-break bowler, and is wary of the threat posed by Afghanistan’s turners.
“They've been doing really well in different leagues,” he said. “And they are quite confident of doing their business on the day.
“They are very good but obviously we should play our game and we should execute our plan with clarity of the mind. But they are very good bowlers.”
When the sides met at the 50-over ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2019, Pakistan edged to victory by three wickets and with just two balls to spare in a thrilling game.
==
Transcript (courtesy of the ICC)
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: Thank you very much, guys, for inviting me to have a chat with you guys. Obviously cricket is a beautiful game. And it's sort of calm here in UAE. All the top teams are here. ICC is doing a brilliant job. So far, as Pakistan cricketing point of view, we had a really good start and we are quite confident.
Our objectives are quite clear. Our players are enjoying each other's company, and they're playing good cricket together, which is brilliant.
And moving forward, obviously, as I mentioned before, they're enjoying each other's company and they're quite confident. But obviously we got confidence and belief from the last two games, and this was also due to good commitment and strong attitude and executing plans with clarity which was very important.
So, yeah, so proud all things are going smoothly. Obviously it's a T20 game and you will have some sort of hiccups and you have to be aware of that. And you shouldn't be going into a surprising sort of mindset.
And it's T20, and we can't take things for granted. We are quite optimistic. Looking forward to the upcoming games.
How dangerous is the Afghanistan cricket team, and how dangerous are their three spinners, Rashid, Mujeeb, who got the five wickets against Scotland, and Mohammad Nabi?
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: I've been hearing about them, that they are actually key players for Afghanistan. And they've been doing really well in different leagues. And they are quite confident to do their business on their day.
They are very good. But obviously we should play and we should execute our plan with clarity of mind as they are very good bowlers.
General opinion about pitches in the T20 World Cup, the pitches are low-scoring pitches. The ball tends to keep low and run scoring is not that easy. What do you expect from tomorrow's pitch in Dubai?
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: Obviously Sharjah pitch, it's slow and low. It's not easy to actually score big runs. But I think it's slightly better. But you need to execute your plan in a different way.
You have to be technically quite strong, and you should know that what your scoring areas are and how to go about it on the day, how you're feeling it.
And I think the boys, in terms of obviously Pakistan point of view, the boys are quite clear. They know. They've been playing in these conditions for quite some time, like PSL, our national teams, they've been playing in these conditions for such a long time. So they're quite aware. And we are clear on how to go about it.
We know the conditions, Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We know the conditions of the pitches better than the others.
The batting order of Pakistan, it is surprisingly very better at this moment. And both openers are doing very well. But Fakhar Zaman struggled in the last match against the spinners. So Afghanistan team, they are using three more spinners. So what do you think, is there any thought of changing Fakhar Zaman lower down in the order?
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: No. Never. We are not thinking like that. If you see that just before the World Cup, in first two warm-up games, the way he executed against the pacers and against the spinners, and we are quite clear as a sports staff, especially me, I'm quite clear, and captain and batting consultant, that he had done it brilliantly before the World Cup. In the last two warm-up games he had done brilliantly against the pacers and spinners.
Against New Zealand, he actually started actually fine. He hit a massive 6 but unfortunately on the next ball or after two deliveries he got out on LBW. But his body language seems really solid and positive.
So we're not worried about Fakhar, and not worried about changing his position.
How do you look at Afghanistan cricket at the moment given their relative lack of preparation for this tournament and the issues they're having back home? So how do you look at them?
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: Look, as I mentioned before, it's a strong unit. We can't really say that it's very easy and you will roll them over. It's not like that.
They have a wonderful bowling attack, especially the spinners. And when they go for batting, they just play, you know, the way they feel it, what's in their heart, what they think. They just go and execute the plan. They just play sort of a fearless cricket. And I think that kind of team can be dangerous.
But as I said before in my answers, you play for your pride. And you don't think, well, this is a small team and this is a big team. No, not like that. Otherwise your mind will train or start thinking in that way.
You play against all teams with the same intensity, with the same attitude, with the same sort of mindset and you execute your plan in the same way you execute the plan against bigger teams. But I say again, Afghanistan is a good team.
Pakistan coach Saqlain Mushtaq believes Afghanistan’s ability to play fearless cricket makes them a dangerous proposition as the sides prepare to meet at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2021.
Both sides have a 100 percent record in the Super 12s so far, with Pakistan recording impressive victories over rivals India and New Zealand, while Afghanistan beat Scotland by a massive 130 runs.
Pakistan also sit third in the ICC MRF Tyres Men’s T20I Team Rankings *– four places above their opponents *– but Saqlain insists there won’t be any complacency when his team take to the pitch in Dubai on Friday.
“Afghanistan are a strong unit,” said Saqlain. “We can't really say that it's very easy and you will roll over them. It's not like that.
“They have a wonderful bowling attack, especially the spinners. And when they go for batting, they just play the way they feel it, what's in their heart, what they think.
“They just go and execute the plan. They just play sort of a fearless cricket and I think that kind of team can be dangerous.
“But as I said before in my answers, you play for your pride. You don't think, well, this is a small team and this is a big team. No, not like that. Otherwise your mind will train or start thinking in that way.
“So, in the World Cup, it's a mega win. You play all the teams with the same intensity, with the same attitude, with the same sort of mindset and you execute your plan the way you execute the plan against the bigger name teams. So, Afghanistan are a good team.”
Afghanistan’s spinners played brilliantly against Scotland as Mujeeb Ur Rahman took five for 20 and Rashid Khan ended with four for nine.
Saqlain knows plenty about spin bowling, having taken 496 wickets for Pakistan during his career as an off-break bowler, and is wary of the threat posed by Afghanistan’s turners.
“They've been doing really well in different leagues,” he said. “And they are quite confident of doing their business on the day.
“They are very good but obviously we should play our game and we should execute our plan with clarity of the mind. But they are very good bowlers.”
When the sides met at the 50-over ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2019, Pakistan edged to victory by three wickets and with just two balls to spare in a thrilling game.
==
Transcript (courtesy of the ICC)
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: Thank you very much, guys, for inviting me to have a chat with you guys. Obviously cricket is a beautiful game. And it's sort of calm here in UAE. All the top teams are here. ICC is doing a brilliant job. So far, as Pakistan cricketing point of view, we had a really good start and we are quite confident.
Our objectives are quite clear. Our players are enjoying each other's company, and they're playing good cricket together, which is brilliant.
And moving forward, obviously, as I mentioned before, they're enjoying each other's company and they're quite confident. But obviously we got confidence and belief from the last two games, and this was also due to good commitment and strong attitude and executing plans with clarity which was very important.
So, yeah, so proud all things are going smoothly. Obviously it's a T20 game and you will have some sort of hiccups and you have to be aware of that. And you shouldn't be going into a surprising sort of mindset.
And it's T20, and we can't take things for granted. We are quite optimistic. Looking forward to the upcoming games.
How dangerous is the Afghanistan cricket team, and how dangerous are their three spinners, Rashid, Mujeeb, who got the five wickets against Scotland, and Mohammad Nabi?
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: I've been hearing about them, that they are actually key players for Afghanistan. And they've been doing really well in different leagues. And they are quite confident to do their business on their day.
They are very good. But obviously we should play and we should execute our plan with clarity of mind as they are very good bowlers.
General opinion about pitches in the T20 World Cup, the pitches are low-scoring pitches. The ball tends to keep low and run scoring is not that easy. What do you expect from tomorrow's pitch in Dubai?
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: Obviously Sharjah pitch, it's slow and low. It's not easy to actually score big runs. But I think it's slightly better. But you need to execute your plan in a different way.
You have to be technically quite strong, and you should know that what your scoring areas are and how to go about it on the day, how you're feeling it.
And I think the boys, in terms of obviously Pakistan point of view, the boys are quite clear. They know. They've been playing in these conditions for quite some time, like PSL, our national teams, they've been playing in these conditions for such a long time. So they're quite aware. And we are clear on how to go about it.
We know the conditions, Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We know the conditions of the pitches better than the others.
The batting order of Pakistan, it is surprisingly very better at this moment. And both openers are doing very well. But Fakhar Zaman struggled in the last match against the spinners. So Afghanistan team, they are using three more spinners. So what do you think, is there any thought of changing Fakhar Zaman lower down in the order?
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: No. Never. We are not thinking like that. If you see that just before the World Cup, in first two warm-up games, the way he executed against the pacers and against the spinners, and we are quite clear as a sports staff, especially me, I'm quite clear, and captain and batting consultant, that he had done it brilliantly before the World Cup. In the last two warm-up games he had done brilliantly against the pacers and spinners.
Against New Zealand, he actually started actually fine. He hit a massive 6 but unfortunately on the next ball or after two deliveries he got out on LBW. But his body language seems really solid and positive.
So we're not worried about Fakhar, and not worried about changing his position.
How do you look at Afghanistan cricket at the moment given their relative lack of preparation for this tournament and the issues they're having back home? So how do you look at them?
SAQLAIN MUSHTAQ: Look, as I mentioned before, it's a strong unit. We can't really say that it's very easy and you will roll them over. It's not like that.
They have a wonderful bowling attack, especially the spinners. And when they go for batting, they just play, you know, the way they feel it, what's in their heart, what they think. They just go and execute the plan. They just play sort of a fearless cricket. And I think that kind of team can be dangerous.
But as I said before in my answers, you play for your pride. And you don't think, well, this is a small team and this is a big team. No, not like that. Otherwise your mind will train or start thinking in that way.
You play against all teams with the same intensity, with the same attitude, with the same sort of mindset and you execute your plan in the same way you execute the plan against bigger teams. But I say again, Afghanistan is a good team.
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