New Delhi, Sep 16 — Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus admitted his side’s batting failure proved costly in their seven-wicket defeat to India in the second T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday, conceding that 159 was well short of what was required on a surface where the par score was around 200.

“Par on that wicket would be about 200. That would have given us something realistic to bowl at. I thought we actually bowled beautifully. I thought Nabi bowled really well for the first couple, and then Noor bowled nicely. I really think we didn’t set a total really which was going to be defendable. It’s a really beautiful wicket. So yeah, the latter,” Pybus told the media in the post-match press conference.

Afghanistan had again struggled to make an impact in the powerplay, managing only 40 runs in the first six overs. While Ibrahim Zadran provided some stability, the visitors could not generate the acceleration needed to put India under pressure.

Pybus felt the bowlers were subsequently left with too little margin for error, particularly after India raced to around 80 in their own powerplay.

“They (India) were already about 80 in 6 overs. So yeah, we didn’t bowl as well in the powerplay as we would have liked. We let them get away from us, a lack of pressure. As I said, I thought Nabi bowled two really good overs, but not posting enough runs. The skipper went in for Nabi for a third over, and by then we got set up. So yeah, it comes back to the batting,” he said.

The Afghanistan coach also acknowledged that the toss was significant on the batting-friendly surface, although he stressed that his team needed to perform regardless of which side won it.

“I do think the toss is important. Anybody would like to chase on that wicket, but again, we’ve got to be good enough on both sides of the toss. So I thought our attitude and our focus was pretty good. But again, we’re short in terms of execution,” he stated.

Rashid Khan’s bowling came under scrutiny after he was introduced later in the innings, but Pybus did not believe the Afghanistan captain should necessarily have bowled earlier.

The coach was instead pleased with Rashid’s contribution as an all-rounder, particularly after he made an important contribution with the bat.

“I’m sure he’d love to hear it. Yeah, look, Rashid’s playing as an all-rounder. We’ve got three all-rounders there with us. So he batted absolutely beautifully today, in a great way.”

Pybus said Afghanistan’s lack of experience against top sides was also part of the learning process for the team.

“It is about consistency with the side. We’ve got some players here who do not have experience in India. I’ve got absolutely no doubt that coming here and playing in front of the stadium, for a couple of the younger players who are inexperienced, this is a big event for them. So it’s them learning to manage that. That’s the mental side of the game. And that comes with experience.

“The boys don’t get many opportunities to play against the top sides in the world. So it’s part of our learning curve. And we can see it in the gap between where we are and where India are. We’re playing the most elite white-ball cricketers in the world. And I could say it’s an education. It is an education for some of these guys,” he explained.

On Rashid’s batting position, Pybus suggested that promotion could come through continued development and performance rather than simply changing the order.

“So I would relate to Rash that you are looking for a promotion. But part of the development of all the players, even though Rash is a mature player, is actually doing the work to see if you can actually move up and put pressure on other guys. So he was outstanding today.”

The top order remains another area of concern for Afghanistan. Pybus backed Ibrahim but admitted he wanted more from the team’s most explosive batters, particularly Rahmanullah Gurbaz.

“Yeah, I’ve loved them to come out and fire. I thought Ibrahim was good today. It would be nice to go deeper, put his foot down, and really get the strike rate accelerating. We haven’t fired. Gurbaz is usually our most explosive player in the top order. I know he’s really disappointed. He loves the big occasions. He’s got to turn up again. I’m sure he’ll have something special for us in the third game.”

Pybus said Afghanistan’s broader challenge was to turn promising international players into consistent performers at the highest level.

“But again, it’s part of the development of the side. It’s one thing being a good player in international cricket. It’s another thing being the best players in international cricket. That’s going to be part of the journey of the development of the side.”

The powerplay batting numbers underline the issue. Afghanistan had also lost four wickets in the powerplay in the first T20I and managed only 41 runs in that phase.

“I do think, well look, I mean, our conversation is to, if we’re going to improve as a T20 side, we have to be able to, our strike rate’s got to improve. Our dot ball percentage is too high and our strike rate’s got to improve.”

Pybus pointed to India’s familiarity with such batting surfaces, built through regular exposure to the IPL, as a major difference between the two sides.

“And India fires; their par is 10 runs in an over. They play on these wickets throughout the IPL; they know how to play on these wickets, and their game is developed on them.”

For Afghanistan, he said the lack of similarly high-quality batting surfaces at home creates another developmental challenge.

“For us, it is, we don’t have these quality wickets back in Afghanistan, so that won’t be part of the development back in domestic cricket.”

He added that Afghanistan needed to develop greater power in the opening six overs while recognising the enormous depth available to India.

“But we’ve got to develop the players so that our strike power in the power play is, we need to be able to get up there and we need to be able to hold it. And again, what India have got is they’ve got unbelievable depth in competition for spots. And so Afghanistan has got some really good talent coming through, but we don’t have a talent pool anywhere remotely as deep as India’s.”

Pybus revealed that Afghanistan’s average powerplay score is around 45 and said improving that figure would be a key focus over the coming months.

“So it’s about us working with the players. You’ll find that the average power for Afghanistan’s power play is about 45. So, we’ve seen that in the last few days. So that is stuff that we’ve really got to seriously work on over the next 3, 6, 9, 12 months.”

He also praised India’s ability to maximise the conditions, describing the surfaces as among the best batting wickets in the world.

“Well, look, the thing is, you’re playing on the best batting wickets in the world here. It’s like a sheet of glass. These players, they’ve learnt how to set their game up where you can hit, as we saw today, you can hit the seamers and the spinners off the top of the length.”

“And they’re unbelievable at it. You’ll find the best T20 wickets in the world here.”

Despite Afghanistan hosting the series, Pybus said the focus should remain on producing quality wickets rather than preparing surfaces specifically to suit the team.

“Look, we want good cricket wickets. It’s as simple as that. This is T20 cricket. We’re not trying to make a track spicy for a test match. We’ve got to be good enough.”

He suggested Afghanistan could look at appointing an international curator to ensure greater consistency in domestic conditions, arguing that better pitches would ultimately aid player development.

“I do think that one of the things I would suggest to the board, as we did in the West Indies, is to appoint an international curator to achieve a uniform surface. And that was more for when we were travelling around the territories in the West Indies when we were playing international matches, to make sure we were getting the wickets that we wanted.

“But I do think being able to make sure that the stadiums have got very specific wickets for our white-ball cricket. We need quality of wickets to develop quality of practice.”

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