Ajay Jadeja, in his mentorship role for Afghanistan in the ongoing World Cup, is a handy guide for the visiting team with his knowledge of Indian cricket and Indian conditions.

Former opener and middle-order batsman Jadeja, who represented India in 15 Tests and 196 ODIs and also captained the team in a few 50-over games, was seen sharing his inputs with the Afghan cricketers during the team’s training sessions on Monday and Tuesday at the Ferozeshah Kotla and helping them deal with pressure, as Afghanistan captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said.

Afghanistan suffered a crushing six-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in their Cup opener last week. Against Team India at the Kotla on Wednesday, they have an even harder task awaiting. But Jadeja stays upbeat.

“The journey is still on. In the previous World Cup in 2019, badi mushkil se
bachey thhey India last over meh. Pakistan bhi badi mushkil se bachi thhi. (India found it really tough, winning somehow in the last over of the game. Pakistan too won just somehow).

“Besides, if you look carefully, in aggregate, they (Afghanistan) play maybe just 15 matches a year, while we (India) play 60 or so. Farak toh rahega hi (There has to be a difference in this case).

“Also, first look at how many years they have been playing at this level. The other teams playing here have a history of 100 years or so. Afghanistan don’t even have a 20-year history for that matter,” Jadeja said on the sidelines of Afghanistan’s training session on Tuesday.

The teams bidding for Afghan cricketers at the IPL auctions reflect how good they are, Jadeja pointed out.

“More than me, I think your Indian cricket (IPL) auction tells them how good they are.”