PAK vs AFG: Jonathan Trott Fires Shots At Pakistan Ahead Of Facing Them

Ahead of the crucial clash against Pakistan in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott has said that the Afghan players get excited by the rivalry. Pakistan and Afghanistan will lock horns on Monday (October 23) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

Currently languishing at the bottom spot in the points table, Afghanistan will be desperate to keep their slim chances alive with a historic win. Pakistan and Afghanistan have played some ODIs against each other so far and the former have won on each occasion. In recent times, Afghanistan have delivered some brilliant performances against Pakistan but have ultimately fallen short of securing a win.

Many believe that Afghanistan have a golden opportunity to finally secure a win over Pakistan in the forthcoming game. The match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium where spinners are likely to get a lot of assistance. Pakistan’s form at the moment is also not good. They will enter the game on the back of two losses in a row.

Jonathan Trott on Pakistan-Afghanistan rivalry:

As Afghanistan looks to register their second win in the ongoing World Cup, Jonathon Trott has opened up on the Pakistan-Afghanistan rivalry. The deteriorating political relationship between the two countries as well as some close games in recent times have added spice to the rivalry.

“I think for them (Afghanistan players) it’s a rivalry that excites them,” Jonathan Trott said.

“I think it’s a rivalry that sometimes in the past has been very passionate. We’ve had very close games as well. Hopefully, tomorrow isn’t very exciting and we win by a lot. It’s just the nature of the rivalry, I should say.

“Both teams, I think, respect each other, but are very desperate to win,” he added.

Speaking further, the former England batsman claimed that he was not aware that Pakistan had unsuccessfully requested the ICC to switch the game against Afghanistan to another venue. Reports stated that Pakistan were not willing to play against Afghanistan in the spin-friendly conditions of Chennai.

“I didn’t know about them wanting to (change the venue), but I think Pakistan have got good spinners themselves and the thing with spinners, there are only two or three of them playing a game,” said Trott.

“It’s everybody’s job, not just the spinners, to win games. There’s batsmen who’ve got to put runs on the board or batsmen who’ve got to chase down a total.

“Chennai is normally a good wicket. So, with regards to the mindset, it’s important, as I said, the mindset we have there is that it’s a team game. It’s not just a spinners game,” he added.