World Cup 2023: It was a 350 wicket, says Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott after loss against India

Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott admitted it was a 350 wicket after their eight-wicket loss against India at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on Wednesday. After winning the toss, Afghanistan could only manage 272-8 on the board on a belter of a pitch in Delhi.

In fact, Afghanistan found themselves in a spot of bother at 63-3 after Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur provided early breakthroughs. However, the Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi added 121 runs with Azmatullah Omarzai for the fourth wicket to get his team’s innings on track.

But Afghanistan could not finish on a high after half-centuries from Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai. Shahidi scored 80 runs from 88 balls whereas Omarzai scored his second ODI fifty as he scored 62. However, the lower-middle order could not contribute much to Afghanistan’s score as they failed to breach the 300-run mark in 50 overs.

Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the Indian bowlers, returning with his best World Cup figures of 4-39 in his quota of 10 overs.

“The total we got? No, I think it was probably about a 350-360 wicket. I think would be par. I think also the way that Rohit played at the beginning made that made that certainly look like that was a case or maybe even more but you got to take your head off to the innings that he played in the start that he gave the Indian side. We need to take early wickets, but he nullified that effect and sort of took the game away a little bit and made it a walk in the park for them towards the end,” Trott said at the post-match press conference.

In fact, Hashmatullah Shahidi’s captaincy tactics came under the scanner as he introduced ace spinner Rashid Khan in the 15th over when Rohit Sharma had already scored 88 runs.

“I didn’t hold him back. I think, Yeah, I think it’s just a case of – when Rash, I always want to feel like, certainly in that instance, you want to get him into the game as soon as possible,” Trott said.

“You know, the captain obviously had a feel or a gut feel that he wanted to go with, and that’s the case. I think that’s a captain’s prerogative. And I think there is a case maybe when the ball gets a little bit older for Rash to bowl with it, and it gets a little bit more turn, it doesn’t skid on as much. So, there’s six of one half a dozen of the other. But certainly, you want a guy like Rash in the attack as soon as possible. So, it’s always something we’ll look at,” the former England batter concluded.

Afghanistan will next play against defending champions England at the same venue on Sunday.