Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott opens up about influence of team mentor Ajay Jadeja on players

Nov 02, 2023

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 2 : Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott talked about the importance of team mentor and former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja who brings in his experience and uses it to help the players utilize their talent during the ongoing World Cup.
Afghanistan have pulled off some major upsets in the ongoing World Cup as they defeated the likes of England and Pakistan earlier in the tournament. With Jadeja being the mentor of the team, Afghanistan enjoy a certain advantage in terms of understanding the pitch and conditions and the opposition.
"I think Ajay obviously brings a lot of experience having played a lot of cricket in India. He's always a good sounding board with regards to conditions and the venues and probably also the other subcontinent teams that we've played against. He has a lot of experience in that way, having played a lot against different countries," Trott said in the pre-match press conference ahead of the Netherlands clash.
"So, he brings his vast experience to the players, but also, as for myself as a coach, as a good signing board with decision making and sort of planning going forward for each game, and also another good set of eyes on the players to see how they're preparing for the matches and how their careers and talent is being utilized," Trott added.
Afghanistan will square off against the Netherlands on Friday at the Ekana Sports City, Lucknow. Both teams are in contention for a semi-final spot if they go on to win all of their matches and certain results fall in their way. Both teams will be keen to walk away with two points to keep their hopes of a spot in the final four alive.
Afghanistan squad: Hashmatullah Shahidi (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran, Riaz Hassan, Rahmat Shah, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Ikram Alikhil, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Abdul Rahman, Naveen ul Haq.
Netherlands squad: Scott Edwards (c), Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht.