Thanks to his burly figure, Umesh Patwal can easily pass off as an Afghan. The batting coach, the only Indian in Afghanistan's camp for its inaugural Test against India to be played in Bengaluru from Thursday, is confident his wards will put up a good show.
“Since this is my third stint with the national team, I have been witness to how the bunch has grown in terms of skill-sets, consistency and confidence.
“Now is the time to translate these from white-ball to red-ball cricket,” Patwal told The Hindu in Dehradun last week during Afghanistan's T20 series sweep against Bangladesh.
“It will be challenging, but I have no doubt Afghanistan will continue to surprise, even in the longer format. Afghanistan is the giantkiller in world cricket and will live up to the tag even in Tests.”
Patwal, a shrewd cricketer on the Mumbai maidans, has been involved in the development of Afghanistan seniors like all-rounder Mohammad Nabi and captain Asghar Stanikzai.
Ever since the duo had a training stint with Patwal in Mumbai in 2008, they kept seeking his advice. The natural progression was to be a member of the Afghanistan national team support staff.
Having served as batting coach twice earlier, in 2014 and 2016, Patwal was delighted when he got a call soon after the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in March, where he worked with Nepal.
“I am extremely fortunate to be involved in this historic match,” Patwal said.
Last year, Patwal was the chief coach of Band-e-Amir Dragons, the franchise that won the Shpageeza Cricket League, a T20 league in Kabul.
Despite the tournament being marred by a bomb blast, Patwal stayed back and helped the Rashid Khan-led team to the title.
“The key to competing in the match is adapting to the challenges. The batsmen, especially, will have to be patient. We have been working on targets of playing a certain number of balls. I hope the batsmen will execute the plans well,” he said.
