PUNE: The last time Afghanistan and Sri Lanka faced each other in the ODIs, it was an electrifying environment at the Gaddafi Stadium. The match went down the wire, as Sri Lanka came on top by just two runs in front of the neutral but passionate crowds in Lahore. The confusion about the Net Run Rate that prevented Afghanistan from making it to the Super Four was the talk of the town and the dejected faces of the Afghan players told the heartbreaking story. Exactly a month from that day, a new challenge was waiting for both teams in India as the 2023 World Cup began in Ahmedabad.
A lot has changed since then, Afghanistan before their fixture against Sri Lanka in Pune had four points on the board, an unbelievable result for a team that could not win a single match in the previous edition. Their Team Mentor and former India International Ajay Jadeja believes it is no secret how talented this group of players really is. "I don’t have to make them believe that they are equals. They believe in themselves. The IPL auction tells them how good they are," Jadeja told reporters in Delhi ahead of Afghanistan's match against hosts India.
Even after defeats against the likes of Bangladesh, India, and New Zealand, Afghanistan never lost their spirit. Well aware of their strengths, match by match they improved the batting to provide cushion to their bowling might. "They are all grown up and living up to the expectations in the World Cup," Lalchand Rajput, Afghanistan's former head coach told this daily. "Their spin department is the best in the world. The medium-pacers have improved and they are good now. The only thing they have to do now is to get a good score. That should click. If they get 270-290 on a little bit of a helpful wicket, I think they will make life miserable for others in the tournament," he mentioned.
That is exactly what the Afghan unit did after their loss to Bangladesh in the tournament opener, courtesy of a batting collapse. Even when it didn't come together against the mighty Indian batting, where Rohit Sharma smashed a record-breaking ton, the batting unit learned lessons from the defeat as Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai added 128 runs for the fourth wicket against Sri Lanka. It was ticking, but not at one time.
"I used to tell them this all the time that they need to get that consistency right because they would be hot one day and cold the other. But now things are changing. They can upset anybody, they need to have that consistency. Over the period of time, they have been improving by playing many matches. And I am sure that maturity has come which means they can be a dangerous side," Rajput predicted it all as Afghanistan got ready to face Pakistan in Chennai.
At Chepauk, even after their spinners made life hard for Pakistan in the middle, Afghanistan had to chase down 282 runs. But the simplified Afghan Approach, written on the whiteboard, made sure they chased it down. "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. And the start that (Rahmanullah) Gurbaz and Ibrahim (Zadran) gave us. It made sure that we had the opportunity to finish the game off in the 49th over and we did so that was great," Jonathan Trott the current head coach mentioned in the post-match media interaction.
With that win against Pakistan, the Afghans added another feather to their cap as they surpassed their previous best in the WCs. With the Sri Lanka challenge waiting in Pune, the question remained the same. Can they keep that consistency? Like Rajput mentioned the spin attack and the developing pace unit, didn't let Sri Lanka settle in the innings and bowled them out for 241. Now came the part where Afghanistan had the opportunity to prove that they have been improving day-by-day in the format. Rajput had a message for the Afghan batters.
"I always believe that the game sense is very important, whether you want to build a partnership and then go hard or just have to go hard from the start. So I think you should have that game sense. Based on what the team requires at that time, you have to build a partnership. You can play the favourite shots after one is well set or after getting a partnership, but you can't lose wickets in a cluster that puts pressure on the team. Adaptability in these situations is of utmost importance along with game sense," and the Afghan top order followed it to the last word.
After Gurbaz, or the entertainer as Rajput calls him, fell early, Zadran and Rehmat Shah kept the innings going even when they could not hit a boundary for almost 10 overs. The 'Game Sense' and patience prevailed. Half-tons from Shah, captain Hashmatullah Shahidi, and Azmatullah Omarzai took the venom out of the already depleted Sri Lanka attack that could not hold to their chances as Afghanistan registered their third victory of the tournament.
After beating Pakistan, Afghanistan thanked the crowd with the victory lap around the Chepauk, at theMCA Stadium in Pune, they again thanked the crowd with another lap. And it looks like they are not getting tired of it at all. And why would they? After all the giant killers have beaten the three former WC winners in the span of just two weeks.
"They have not been playing for even 20 years. Other teams have a history of 100 years," is how Jadeja described where this team stands in the history of the game. And at this rate, more marvelous results are waiting for them.
