CHENNAI: Afghanistan is on a high. The side made the grade for the 2019 World Cup last week and that too in the most convincing fashion in the finals. They endured an ordinary start - losing their first three matches - before scripting a stunning turnaround almost a fairytale. In a chat with TOI, Mrugang (Monty) Desai, the team’s batting coach, shared his experiences of being part of the side and the learning experience for everyone involved with the side.
Excerpts:How would you rate your experience of being part of the Afghanistan side?Afghanistan as a cricket nation excites all of us and batting coach role came to me from
Phil Simmons. My personal experience of having worked with Associate Nations like Canada and Nepal made me interested to take up this role for my own personal development and growth. It’s like being on a journey of “post-graduation”. There is a cultural challenge that any coach goes through in a new environment and I was very keen to experience that. This has to be an excellent experience both performance and learning wise.
What triggered the turnaround when the side lost its opening three outings?Looking back I think players in the dressing room acknowledged that even when we lost few games there was never a blame-game situation. We were all conscious about not allowing such things to happen. We encouraged players to look within themselves to seek answers and that included the management unit as well .We believed that as a unit we had to handle such critical moments in a professional way and not take our sights off the goal. I can say that having a professional and disciplined approach coupled with a "never give up attitude" worked well for the turnaround. As they say ‘Luck favours the brave’ so it did for us as well.
Afghanistan was at the very best in the crucial phases of the competition?I believe when we had our back to the wall, we upped our game and came out tops. If I think analytically, in my opinion we gave our best when we were put to chase by our opponents in the last five matches. I felt it really helped us as we were pushed in similar pressure situations time and again. It allowed our batsmen to use their intellect at the task in hand. So even if initially they failed under certain circumstances, they came out stronger and better next time, we had best opening partnerships at the final stage of the tournament against Ireland and in finals against West Indies. I must certainly mention that our skipper Asghar Stanikzai played pivotal role during the most crucial phase for his team and the country.
What was the first thing that endured you to the side?The team’s discipline is something I am proud of. Not only were they sharp at training sessions and with tasks assigned to them, they display great discipline when offering prayers. At the ground I have seen them all come together as one unit and pray. I am not too sure how much of this is relevant to cricket, but for me it was a cultural learning. We used to gather on ground to pray first before the team meetings. They are one close unit!
How did the players celebrate their qualifying moment?We always wanted to qualify as Champions but there was a process in place for it and in the end when we reflect back I think we needed luck as well especially with results such as Nepal winning against Hong Kong and UAE beating Zimbabwe. I think the whole world saw their celebration. They are heading back home as proud team. We enjoyed winning it convincingly in the Finals against former two times world champions!
What was the West Indies players’ reaction as we saw Chris Gayle breaking into a jig along with Simmons and Mohammad Shahzad?I think they were happy to see our fairy tale journey. Personally, my heart goes out for the sombre mood in the dressing rooms of the Zimbabwean, Irish and Scottish teams. They too were very close. I think overall all ten countries made an impact in the competition and wanted to send the message out to the World that “We Are In".
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