Afghanistan coach Trott not satisfied with three consecutive wins in T20 World Cup 2024

Afghanistan secured their first-ever Super Eight spot in the T20 World Cup after a convincing seven-wicket win over Papua New Guinea.

Despite the achievement, head coach Jonathan Trott emphasized that they haven't won anything yet and need to stay focused. He pointed out that while winning three consecutive group stage matches feels good, they still have more crucial games ahead.

“We still have one game left, an important group game, and that’s going to be a good gauge of where we are against a powerful West Indies side who won an incredible game last night (against New Zealand) from the position they were in,” Englishman Trott said in the post-match press conference.

“So, it’s nice to have won tonight and got qualification as such. To come to a World Cup and win three is a nice feeling, but also the realisation and reality that we haven’t won anything yet.

“We only achieved the group stage and we’ve got some important cricket matches coming up which we’re going to have to play well in.”

Looking ahead to their Super Eight match against India on June 20 in Barbados, Trott expressed confidence in their talent but acknowledged they haven't played their best cricket yet.

 “I believe we’re very, very talented and when we play our best cricket, we can take on anyone. We’ve seen that.

“I feel that we still haven’t played our best game. There’s still things we need to work on and we’ll be working on those over the next few days to give ourselves the best chance to beat the major teams,” Trott said.

The former England cricketer heaped praise on Fazalhaq Farooqi and credited bowling coach Hamid Hassan for his development, highlighting the team effort in their recent victory.

“He’s been really good I think when he gets his line and with the pace and the swing, he’s very dangerous. So, I still think with the amount of talent (he has), he can even bowl better,” Trott said.

“And working with our bowling coach Hamid Hassan and, obviously, Dwayne Bravo for this tournament, we’ve seen him stand up and have some real match winning performances or man of the match performances.

“But a lot of other bowlers have bowled well as well. So, I was pleased with how everybody else supported him today. It’s not just about one bowler. And that’s exciting going forward for St. Lucia,” he said.