“It does mean a lot to the people of our country back home,” Naveen said at the mixed-zone media interaction. “As you know, the situation back home…The earthquake also hit [in Herat] a few days ago. So, there’s not a lot of happiness in the country without cricket. So, at least we’ve given them some moments of happiness tonight.”
“No, no, no. Not at all. That’s my final decision I’ve made,” Naveen said. “Luckily, I will remember this World Cup for the rest of my life – beating Pakistan and beating England. I’m hoping for the best in the upcoming games.”
Afghanistan had also taken down defending champions England earlier in the tournament, but Trott urged his team to be more consistent in all disciplines if they’re to chalk up more such wins in the future.
“I think it’s just a message of consistency and not being scared to say, listen, we need to improve in these areas, let’s make sure we do this,” Trott said. “And I’m under no illusion that there are areas that need improving, like any side though. So, if we improve at those slowly, I think our all-round package improves and you’ll be able to handle the pressure like we’ve done tonight.
“I’m looking forward. I’m already sort of thinking about plans for Sri Lanka.
“But for me as a coach, it’s fantastic to be able to sit here. The players deserve a lot of the credit. It’s not what I’m feeding them. It’s what they’re feeding themselves in practice and the way that they think about the game and the professionalism that’s building. The one thing I would say … they’re very fit. They’re working incredibly hard at their fitness and then in the gym, they’re not doing beach weights, they’re doing proper fitness work and we saw that today with Rahmat [Shah] being able to field for 50 overs and then bat for the amount of time that he did in that heat, so it’s a real credit to the players.”