Identifying the keys to an Afghanistan resurgence

Afghanistan beating Pakistan isn’t an upset, at least their English coach Jonathan Trott doesn’t think so. To him, it’s a “disservice to the guys in the changing room” call it one. They are probably not even underdogs after beating England, surely not when they are this meticulous, dedicated to improving every aspect of their cricket.

- Somshuvra Laha

You lose, you learn, you evolve; Afghanistan are no different. The infrastructure may not be up to scratch, the team itself may be seeking home comfort for years now but Afghanistan are also a culture stemmed from resilience. In real life, outside the statistical realm of match-ups, predictions and history, Afghanistan gave themselves as much chance of winning as Pakistan. Perhaps more.

You could feel that in the controlled aggression that underlined Afghanistan’s batting — always level with the asking rate, giving respect to the bowlers wherever due but also coming down heavily on the loose balls, and running like their life depended on it. At the core of this approach was also a brutally honest assessment. “I said, we're not going to be able to win this game in 35-40 overs. We're going to have to bat well for 50 overs. And we broke it down to 10-over splits,” said Trott, the former England batter.