Mental resilience visible after SA heartbreak: Afghanistan coach

Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott on Monday said he has noticed a clear shift in his team's mental resilience after they bounced back from a heartbreaking defeat against South Africa to register their first win of the T20 World Cup. Afghanistan had suffered a double Super Over loss to South Africa but responded with a five-wicket victory over the UAE to keep their slim Super Eights hopes alive. "UAE played really well, and we were under pressure, but that's the pleasing thing for me as a coach.

What I'd like would have been a lot easier, yes, but at the end of the day, when you come out on the right side of pressure situations, like we were, having the history of the last game, I've certainly seen a shift," Trott told reporters. "We've lost tight games like that, and then after that, it's very much been hard to put back the confidence. I see a bit of an improvement in the resilience, cricketing-wise, but also mentally."

Trott said there is still room for growth, but was pleased with the progress. "Sure, there's a lot of work still to be done, and that's going to be exciting to watch, but I'm really pleased the guys can come away, and we can go off to Chennai really excited about playing a proper game against Canada with a bit of confidence." Several Afghan players compete in the ILT20 and are familiar with the UAE side, and Trott felt that experience helped.