Afghanistan’s victory against Scotland sparked celebrations across the country and even drew a congratulatory phone-call from the president, but the team is under no illusions about the might of its next opponent.
“We know we’re up against one of the best teams in the world and arguably the best pace attack in the world,” said Peter Anderson, coach of Kabul’s National Cricket Academy, ahead of Wednesday’s tie against Australia in Perth.
“It’s a shop-front for us, it’s an opportunity for us to show the cricketing public of the world what talent we have in Afghanistan, and I know the boys will do themselves very proud. Our goal is to get out there and bat 50 overs and make it very competitive. You never know.”Afghanistan’s first and only ODI meeting with Australia came in Sharjah in 2012, when Mohammad Nabi’s side made a creditable 206 chasing 272. “Our team is better now than it was then,” said Nabi, the captain. “Ten years ago, we were watching teams like India, Pakistan and Australia on TV. Today, we’re playing alongside them.”
Michael Clarke denied that the washout in Brisbane and the loss to New Zealand had upset the team’s rhythm. “I believe in confidence, and we’ve been playing some really good one-day cricket over the past 12 months to two years. The boys did a fantastic job in the tri-series.
“We certainly respect and appreciate how good a team New Zealand are, and they beat us the other day. It’s up to us to turn things around and come out and perform really good,” he said.
Clarke said he was pleased that Afghanistan was part of the World Cup. “They’ve shown the world on this stage that they’ve got a really good team and they can perform at this level against the best. I’ve always believed that the more countries that we can get involved in the game of cricket, the better. The more boys and girls playing all around the world, the better for cricket,” he said.