Lahore: Afghanistan have the chance to qualify for the semi-final stage in back-to-back Men’s ICC limited-over tournaments.
Having shocked the world in last year’s ICC Men's T20 World Cup, Jonathan Trott’s side are now just one win away from reaching the final four yet again.
It’s why he moved to ensure celebrations after their England win were only short-lived.
“I'm going to make sure when they wake up tomorrow, they enjoy tonight, (but) wake up tomorrow ready for Australia," he told the media after their nail-biting victory over the English."
"As soon as they wake up tomorrow, the focus is on Australia,” Trott said.
Recent performances on the world stage mean this Afghanistan side can no longer fly under the radar. It's something Trott is very aware of.
“Australia aren't going to take us lightly,” he continued.
“So, we've got to be prepared. In the past, perhaps people would have seen the fixture and thought it was a little bit easier than playing a historic Test nation. But in this format, in these conditions, I don't see that," Trott said.
“Since I've been coach we've played against Australia three times and we've been in the game each of those games. So, we should take a lot of confidence from that. And I think certainly what happened in the World Cup, T20 World Cup, and I say this to the players as well, that Afghanistan's never going to be taken lightly ever again," he said.
“I see every game that we play is going to be competitive and every game we go into I expect to win,” Trott said.
Trott has overseen first-hand Afghanistan’s rise to cricketing prominence, crediting how his side has become more battle-hardened against the world’s top teams.
“There’s a resilience to them,” he continued.
“I think if you add to some cricketing experience and cricketing match awareness with regards to batting in particular, with regards to how you pace the innings … it's not always down to one person. We saw Ibrahim, the way that he's done today, we've seen Gurbaz do it in the past …we have Gulbadin at eight at the moment, who can come in and change games," Trott said.
“So that self-belief is important and it starts within, but it's also quite infectious and it spreads within the squad,” he said.
Their clash with Australia is now, effectively, a quarter-final, with the winner gaining undeniable semi-final qualification and the loser packing their bags.
So with big stakes at play, Trott hopes for strong support for their clash in Lahore.
“Hopefully Friday will be a massive sell out and people will turn up or take the day off work and come and watch us from two o'clock onwards. I think it's great for the guys. I think it's a huge experience and these players will never forget nights like this. We've had a few other nights along the way in ICC events and series' and that will just add to the confidence that we should hopefully take in on Friday,” Trott added.
