‘Firstly, bat first’: Patwal

Former Afghanistan batting coach Umesh Patwal has said that batting will be a major concern for the Afghans during their Super 8 game against former T20 world champions IndiaMumbaibased Patwal also reckoned that India will have a huge advantage considering their battersrsquo ability to counter spinners with ease104run defeat to WIAfter a huge 104run defeat to West Indies at St Lucia on Tuesday legspinner Rashid Khanrsquos team will face Rohit Sharma amp Co at Bridgetown on Thursday ldquoThey Afghanistan never chase big totals in ODIs so it could be a new challenge for them in T20 Batting is a major weakness Afghanistanrsquos thinktank will need to have a plan if the opposing team cross 160 to 180rdquo Patwal told midday on TuesdayPatwal who also guidedNepal as their batting coach felt Afghan batters succumb to pressure like they did against the West Indies who bowled them out for 114 in 162 overs after posting 2185Umesh PatwallsquoNeed to bat wellrsquoldquoThey were pressurised when teams scored big against them like what happened against West Indies today Tuesday In such situations they fail to build momentum If they bat well then they can do something while bowling second But if the opponent score more than 150 they will strugglerdquo he explained If Afghanistan want to keep their hopes alive in the tournament Patwal suggested that his former team bat first against India and try build pressure ldquoThey will have to bat first get whatever score they reach and then put India under pressure by taking some crucial wickets I hope they will bat first be it against India or Australiardquo Patwal remarkedAlso ReadlsquoAmol Kale came as a phoenix to Mumbai cricketrsquoAfghanistanrsquos key spinner Rashid was hammered by the West Indiesmdash45 runs in four overs and went wicketless Their bowling attack will also depend on leftarm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi and leftarm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad ldquoTheir Afghanistan bowling attack will be more concerned about Farooqi and Noor If they struggle to get wickets India will have no troublerdquo said Patwal He however doesnrsquot see India being troubled by Noor ldquoIndia have Kuldeep Yadav and know what it takes to combat such bowlers They face Kuldeep in the nets while teams like Australia and Bangladesh in Indiarsquos group donrsquot have a leftarm wrist spinner Plus Kuldeep is far more experienced than Noor So thatrsquos an advantage India have against Australia and Bangladeshrdquo Patwal signed offThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever