Afghanistan pulled off yet another giant killing on Wednesday, beating England by 8 runs in their crucial Champions Trophy match in Lahore. This was Afghanistan’s second win over England at an event organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), having also beaten them at the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. Back then, former India all-rounder Ajay Jadeja was their mentor and did not charge any fee for his services. This time, Afghanistan had appointed former Pakistan captain Younis Khan as their mentor for this tournament. Similarly, Younis too did not have any financial benefits.
Now, former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif has revealed that Younis is mentoring Afghanistan after refusing to work with the Pakistan cricket team
“Younis Khan said no to Pakistan cricket to work with Afghanistan. There will be no financial benefits here,” Latif said on Geo News show ‘Haarna Mana Hai’.
Ahead of the Champions Trophy, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) chief executive Naseeb Khan has opened up on Younis’s appointment.
“Since the Champions Trophy is being held in Pakistan, it was required to assign a talented and experienced player as a mentor from the hosting country. We already had efficient experience with hosting countries’ mentors in ODI World Cup 2023 and T20I World Cup 2024,” Khan had said at the time of appointment.
For the unversed, Afghanistan had also hired former West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo as their mentor for the T20 World Cup last year.
Afghanistan will now take on Australia on Friday. If they manage to pull off another upset, they will qualify for the semi-finals without depending on other results.
Looking ahead to their next must-win game against Australia, Trott also said that the Afghanistan team will take confidence form their fine showings against the Aussies in recent World Cup outings.
“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,” Trott said at the post-match press conference.
“I see every game that we play is going to be competitive and every game we go into I expect to win,” the Englishman added.
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