Team India have been flattened in their first two matches of this T20 World Cup. Afghanistan, however, prefer to remain cautious ahead of what they believe will still be a “David versus Goliath” clash when they face India in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
“A hurt Indian team” will be even more dangerous, feels Afghanistan head coach Lance Klusener.
“Honestly, we’re not reading too much into India’s results in those two games as Pakistan and New Zealand are two very good sides. I think we all know India are still one of the best teams out there.
“Now, is it Afghanistan’s best chance to beat them? I don’t really read it that way. Yes, they have lost their last two games, but that doesn’t really change anything because they still have some fantastic players and our game versus India remains a David-Goliath clash.
“A hurt Indian team will be quite dangerous for us,” former South Africa all-rounder Klusener, one of the best in his times, told The Telegraph from Abu Dhabi on Monday.
Afghanistan’s spin attack, however, could certainly pose problems for Virat Kohli and his men, who didn’t look comfortable at all against New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi in Dubai on Sunday. More importantly, the likes of Rashid Khan, captain Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman — who may return for Wednesday’s game if he recovers from injury — have had no hesitation in bowling in the second half of the game when the job tends to become a little more difficult because of the dew.
The Afghans don’t want to look for any excuses while the Indian cricketers keep talking about the drastic difference the dew makes in the second half. “We don’t want to make excuses about anything... Frankly, we haven’t encountered any dew problem. We haven’t really felt that has been a problem for us,” Klusener stated.
Being a reliable all-rounder during his playing days, Klusener understands the value Hardik Pandya brings to the Indian team. But when a player isn’t fully fit, it’s wiser to look at a different combination, he said.
“If Pandya was 100 per cent fit and could bowl his four overs, it would free up a lot of other options, allowing India to play differently. But I don’t think it helps dwelling on the matter,” he added.
