‘We know Afghanistan is a…’: Rahul Dravid ahead of the T20 World Cup Super Eights match

NEW DELHI: Indian coach Rahul Dravid issued a warning, saying his team “will not take Afghanistan lightly” in their opening match of the T20 World Cup in Barbados on Thursday.

India advanced to the Super Eights, which consisted of two groups of four, after going undefeated in the first round of pool play.
T20 WORLD CUP: SCHEDULE | POINTS TABLEDravid is well aware of the struggle his team faces at the Kensington Oval since India defeated Afghanistan in a T20 match in Bengaluru in January, which required two Super Overs to win.

“We know that Afghanistan is a very dangerous team in this form of the game,” former India batsman Dravid, 51, told a pre-match press conference on Wednesday, according to AFP. “They showed that through their performance at this World Cup.

“They may not have much international experience in the other formats of the game, but many of their players do play in many T20 competitions, more than some of our players do.

“So especially in this format, they are not a team to be taken lightly. They are deservedly in the Super Eights.”

Afghanistan have lived up to the hype that they could be semi-finalists.

Before a thumping 104-run defeat at the hands of rising West Indies in a match between two unbeaten teams on Monday in St. Lucia, when Nicholas Pooran smashed 98 runs for the tournament’s co-hosts, they had secured their place in the Super Eights already secured.

But earlier in the competition, Afghanistan defeated New Zealand by 84 runs.

Afghanistan’s success is largely attributed to Rashid Khan’s excellent spin bowling, who led the way against New Zealand in Guyana by taking four wickets for 17 runs.

However, in the same match, fast bowler Fazalhaq Farooqi also won 4-17, and New Zealand were bowled out for just 75.

“They have a good bowling attack all around,” Dravid said. “Even their two pacers are quite experienced. Farooqi and Naveen-ul-Haq both have played a lot of cricket, both of them also swing the ball.

“I think their bowlers are some of the most sought-after bowlers in this format in the world.

“We understand that this is going to be a challenge for us and we will have to play well to counter that.”


Jonathan Trott, Afghanistan’s coach, said better player relations resulted from the introduction of T20 franchise cricket, which was driven by the Indian Premier League and was “obviously very different to when I played”.

However, the 43-year-old claimed that the information obtained “works both ways”.

“We had nine, 10 players in the IPL. They will be able to share their knowledge about Indian players, and they will be able to do the same with our players,” Trott explained. “That’s the current state of world cricket.

“I think it’s in a good position, and it’s very healthy. And we’re in the middle of a World Cup and we’re in Barbados, so the world is pretty good.”

Trott claimed that Nicholas Pooran’s ferocious strike might help his team beat India.

“Pooran played a great knock,” said the former England batsman. “But other teams will have players of that caliber, who can win games on their own day like Pooran did. So I think it’s a good thing that this has happened.”

“We have learned lessons and we will rectify them from tomorrow (Thursday).”