Afghanistan coach Trott eyes win over pressurised Pakistan

Head coach Jonathan Trott

Head coach Jonathan Trott is hopeful Afghanistan can keep their World Cup campaign alive by pulling off a win against an under-pressure Pakistan, having come agonisingly close to defeating them earlier this year. The 42-year-old added that the passionate rivalry between the two teams, who are desperate to win, would make it an enthralling contest here on Monday.

"I think for them [Afghans], it's a rivalry that excites them. It's a rivalry that sometimes in the past has been very passionate," Trott said at the pre-match press conference on Sunday. "But I'm sure we'll see an exciting game tomorrow. It's just the nature of the rivalry. And both teams respect each other but are very desperate to win," he added.

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Pakistan had defeated Afghanistan 3-0 in a three-match ODI series in August. "We've had an ODI series against them recently where we should have won a few games, [but] we didn't. So hopefully, we can put that right tomorrow."

Afghanistan play their second game at the Chepauk, the Hashmatullah Shahidi-led side fell to 149-run loss to New Zealand at the same venue on Wednesday. "The pitch I'm not sure. Chennai is normally a good wicket. So, everybody's got to put in a good team performance if we want to beat the likes of a strong side like Pakistan," Trott said.

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