Asia Cup: Afghanistan Coach Condemns Behaviour Of Fans, Says Sports Should Be Treated As Sports
Raees Ahmadzai expressed his disappointment over the behaviour of his players and the fans after the team's defeat against Pakistan in a last-over thriller
Afghanistan assistant coach has condemned the clash between Afghanistan and Pakistan fans after the team's defeat on Wednesday while addressing a press conference. Raees Ahmadzai expressed his disappointment over the behaviour of his players and the fans after the team's defeat against Pakistan in a last-over thriller. Speaking to the reporters, the coach also shed light on the team's learnings from the tournament. He appreciated the team for their performance in the Asia Cup and mentioned that they would apply the learnings in the next tournament they play.
The assistant coach said, "I think we did very well, especially the young boys. They were picked for the first time on the national side and they did well. Especially for the first two wins, what we did against Pak was unlucky. A good learning process for our players for the world cup. And if they play against players like Virat Kohli, and KL Rahul they will learn and apply it in the future in World Cup matches. They also got to play against players from the Pakistani team hence they got to see good players and learn from them."
Talking about the performance in the match against India, he sighted that the back-to-back matches made it difficult for the players.
" To be honest, everyone was still panicked from the last match. We played back-to-back matches which is not easy. We tried our best. When we had a look at the pitch we thought of restricting the Indian team to a score of 170-180 but sometimes it can happen. If you drop the catch of a good player like Virat Kohli then I am sure he will not give any opportunity to you," Ahmadzai added.
The Afghan coach was also happy to see Virat Kohli finally break the jinx and score a century after more than 1000 days in international cricket.
Appreciating Virat's knock, he said, "Firstly, very happy to see him scoring a hundred after such a long time. The way he played it was a totally different Virat Kohli. Happy to see him play such shots which he is known for in the past. He played good innings, everyone knows our bowling attack is not easy but the way he played was superb."
Raees was very vocal about the crowd's reaction that has been doing the rounds on the internet and criticized such behaviour.
"I think the players are well aware of the rules and regulations of the game but sometimes in the heat of the moment, sometimes you cannot control and it comes out. The crowd should understand that this is just a game and sports should be treated as sports, not to be involved in anything critically or something. But again if you say something it's different, but physical violence it's something every player should avoid. Sledging or talking to someone is different but the rules and regulations do not allow you to do physical violence. Another experience for our players. We will inform our players to be within the limit and not cross it," added the coach.
Ahmadzai also acknowledged that the more cricket the team plays with the top teams of the world, the better they will learn to keep their emotions under check in such tense and pressure situations.
Praising the new coach Jonathan Trott, he said, "He joined us during the Ireland series and has been doing very well for us, talking to players and understanding what they need. He has been doing good for us."
India defeated Afghanistan in an emphatic manner on Thursday with Virat Kohli finally coming to the fore and scoring his 71st international century.
Riding on Virat's charismatic century and stand-in captain KL Rahul's half-century, India posted a mammoth total of 212 for the loss of two wickets.
Afghanistan never really got going and were jolted by the superb bowling of pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the powerplay. The bowler completed the match with five wickets to his name, becoming the leading Indian wicket-taker in T20Is. He overtook Yuzvendra Chahal who held the record.
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Afghanistan
Pakistan Cricket Team