Afghanistan will improve in next two years, feels Andy Moles
Andy Moles believes that Afghanistan will be a force to reckon with, in the next couple of years as the current progress is for everyone to see. He also acknowledged that the group of senior players who have been associated with the team for a decade now have played a major role in its development.
Former head coach of Afghanistan Andy Moles, who coached the side to its maiden World Cup appearance back in 2015, is one of those handful individuals who know Afghanistan cricket inside out. Having assumed the role of the chief selector, after spending some time with the U-23 and U-19 side, Moles is looking to offer the youngsters more exposure to international cricket. Talking about the progress in the side, Moles pointed out that the development is pretty visible. He opined that the senior players have been contributed highly towards all the growth.
"The progress is there for everyone to see. We have benefited from a group of quality senior players who have done really well for the last eight-nine years to bring all the way to where we are now. Challenge now is to keep that level of performance and it’s obviously going to be difficult because we are now playing the top teams in the world. Experience for all the players is a key for me," Moles told Sportstar.
"If you break down the formats, you will see, in T20 cricket, we are a dangerous team. We have got exceptional spinners; we have got two spinners who are No.1 or 2 in the world, we have got top all-rounder in Mohammad Nabi and you would say, our batting is a bit of inconsistent but its successful and dynamic enough. So, in T20s, we are a very dangerous team."
Coming to the longest format, Miles shared that they have had a great run after their maiden Test match, which was against India. He mentioned the historic win over Bangladesh as he shared that he is looking forward to exposing the youngsters to the heat of international cricket so as to prepare them for the hardships that lie ahead.
"'In Tests, in the first game against India, we did not play well at all, but since then, we managed to beat Ireland but we enjoyed the magnificent Test victory against Bangladesh. Against the West Indies, we are playing in conditions where spin will be important and we have got a good spin attack. So, we believe we can be competitive. But the West Indies won’t lie down, so we need to make sure we put them under pressure.
"These guys are the future and in my new role as the director of cricket, I am trying to give the players opportunity outside the national side - to our A team and U-23 cricketers - to play as much competitive quality cricket in different conditions around the world so that we can learn to adapt to the conditions, understand to be better thinkers when under pressure. All put together, in the next two years, the side will improve," the 52-year-old concluded.