Afghanistan coach Jonathon Trott showered Bangladesh pacers with enormous praise, stating that the Tigers now could compete with any team in any condition if the pacers continue to show this kind of performance which they demonstrated in the one-off Test.
Bangladesh's fast bowling unit was instrumental in inflicting a 546-run defeat to Afghanistan, claiming 14 wickets in the match. It’s the third largest victory in the world cricket history and the biggest ever in last 89 years.
“I think it’s pretty good, you know, good pace. And will be able to compete at home and away with the types of seamers that they’ve got. Also with the spin, the accurate spin bowlers, they know how to play in their own conditions really well. So, credit to them,” Trott said after his side lost the game in four days.
“Obviously very disappointed (to loss the game by such huge margin). And we didn’t play well from the word go. So, we haven’t played a Test match for 27 months. Players had only been in the country four days. So, obviously, there are things that need to be done better to prepare for a test match and be expecting to compete.”
He said the lack of Test exposure meant Afghanistan haven't been consistent enough to give Bangladesh a tough fight even though there was some sporadic success.
“I think it’s more of a case of the opposition playing pretty well and being very consistent in what they're doing. We were trying to achieve what we want but just weren’t able to do so. And also responsible was the batsman batting for an amount of time. Well, our batsman, I think our longest innings was 70-odd balls by Rahmat Shah. So, a batsman to go on and get two hundreds in the same game is a good example of what's needed in test cricket, the standard. And I thought their spinners were accurate as well, as opposed to our spinners were not accurate enough.”
Afghanistan won the first Test match between the two sides in 2019, thanks to a 11-wicket haul of legspinner Rashid Khan who this time was rested. Trott said Rashid Khan’s absence didn’t impact the result but his absence left a big hole in the team.
“I think whenever a person or a player like Rashid Khan is not in your squad, there’s always gonna be a bit of a gap or a bit of a hole. But I don't think Rashid Khan not being here is a deciding factor in the result,” he revealed, adding that they lacked fighting instinct which Bangladesh showed all throughout the Test match.
“I think the skill level, it wasn't up to standard more than the fight. I think I agree with you that the resistance needs to be better. The being up for a challenge, the mentality needs to be better. And that's something we’re working on.”
Trott also put emphasize on warm-up game ahead of a Test match.
“Ideally, I think it would've been nice if we could've played a warm-up match. We were in Sri Lanka playing ODIs and half the team were obviously back in Afghanistan prepping, but hadn't played a first class game for a long time. So, it would've been nice to have been able to come to Bangladesh at the time to train and play a match,” Trott, a former England Test player said.
“We were supposed to play a series against India that was supposed to be played, but that got cancelled, which meant that we sort of pushed this a little bit forward and we were supposed to go to India now and then come back for the ODIs and T20. So that then fell through and the schedule was set in stone as it is. So, unfortunately, that's the case and hopefully, learn from it.”