Afghanistan’s success in World Cup has a lot to do with Ajay Jadeja’s knowledge, says Gulbadin Naib | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: Afghanistan have significantly benefited from the guidance of former Indian all-rounder Ajay Jadeja during their World Cup campaign. The Asian team, currently holding the sixth position and aiming for a spot in the semi-finals, is preparing to face Australia in their upcoming match in Mumbai.
Afghanistan have accumulated eight points from seven matches, securing four victories and enduring three losses.They stand on par with New Zealand and Pakistan, both of whom have played eight matches each, but lag behind on Net Run Rate (-0.330). Afghanistan, however, possess an extra game in hand.

Gulbadin Naib, a reserve player and former Afghanistan captain who led the team to a silver medal in the Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China, emphasised the invaluable contributions of Jadeja.

Naib highlighted that Jadeja’s insights and guidance have been “unbelievable” in their approach and training, greatly benefiting the Afghan players during the tournament.
“The results also have a lot to do with the role he has played in the backroom for us. He guides the players and he shares his experience like any big player. Ajay bhai has played for India, he knows and can also anticipate what can happen at any stage in the game,” Naib told PTI exclusively on the sidelines of Afghanistan’s training session on Sunday.
“While we have the entire game on our mind, he breaks it down to 10-minute plays (watching it) closely. He knows what will happen here (at the Wankhede Stadium) given the ocean (Arabian Sea) is close by (to the stadium), what will happen (in terms of conditions) during the day or the night or whether the ball will swing or not, break or not, we get a lot of ideas,” Naib said.
“Ajay sir, if I am not speaking much, the way he has been guiding our players has been unbelievable and we are enjoying his company,” he added.
Naib said to have watched a player like Jadeja playing alongside the legends of the game like Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly on TV and having him in the dressing room is a benefit for the Afghanistan players.
“Whenever we sit down, he only speaks about cricket. He invariably gets cricket into any discussion that we would be having. His presence is a big thing for us, us players were watching him on TV till recently playing with legends like Sachin Tendulkar and (Sourav) Ganguly and today he is associated with us and that has made a huge impact on our team and our cricket,” he said.
Naib also heaped praise on Afghanistan’s head coach, former England player Jonathan Trott for fostering greater self-confidence among players.
“(Jonathan) Trott has brought in more confidence into the side and the players. If you get over-aggressive in your approach you may not get much results,” he said.
“Confidence is such a thing that… he has more confidence in us. He does not speak a lot, but on the ground, during training sessions, he does a lot and during team meetings he tells us that ‘you guys belong to this level’ and we get a lot of positive energy from knowing what the Englishman is saying — that he has come all the way from England and here we are playing in Asian conditions.
“He forces us to think, ‘when he has so much confidence in us why can we not have the same?’.”
Naib said being confident has allowed aggression to trickle into the Afghanistan team.
“We had a good Asia Cup, we beat Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in their home conditions. These kinds of things take you towards… When you are confident, the aggression automatically kicks in. We are fully confident in ourselves given where we stand, which is why we have been able to deliver as well,” he said.
Having “nothing to lose” given the turmoil and hardships they come from, Naib says being fearless and not fretting over outcomes helps Afghanistan players keep a fearless approach in their cricket.
“From where we belong (or come from), it has been our nature — given you know the history — that we play with an open heart — because we know that we have nothing to lose,” he said.
“The better we will do (in terms of performances) and the more we hold on to it, the aggression comes in naturally, the energy flows in and we also enjoy (that flow).”
“The way we are playing our cricket we are enjoying it and we are not afraid. We are not bothered about what will happen or what will not, we do not have that habit. You look at our team, be it the seniors or young players like (Rahmanullah) Gurbaz — the way he plays — it is totally fearless. This is why we have a higher percentage of wins of late,” he added.
On Sunday, Afghanistan went full steam ahead with their training here with star player Rashid Khan having an extended batting stint while Gurbaz also having a long session.
Fazalhaq Farooqi and Naveen Ul Haq bowled in tandem during the nets and also indulged in target bowling after the team engaged in a grilling warm-up drill.
(With PTI inputs)