Interview Mohammad Nabi: It's an immense blessing to have Inzamam-ul-Haq as our coach

View : 525

5 Min Read

(Photo Source: Twitter0
info
Mohammad Nabi believes this Afghanistan side has lot of potential to do well against bigger teams. (Photo Source: Twitter)

Interview Mohammad Nabi: It’s an immense blessing to have Inzamam-ul-Haq as our coach: Afghanistan set out on a tough tour to Zimbabwe, though they had played each other before and knew what to expect, it is never easy playing any opposition at their home. The Zimbabwe boys were on a high after rather surprisingly beating Ireland 2-1 in the ODI series and everyone expected them to come good against Afghanistan as well.

But that is where the difference between expectations and reality came in, after taking their time to settle in, the visitors were ready to show the world how prepared they are for playing at the highest level and not just in ICC tournaments or the odd series against other Associate nations but to play bilateral series against Test playing teams.

Here they are, Afghanistan have beaten Zimbabwe 3-2 in the ODI series and lead the 2-match T20I series 1-0. The man, who shifted the momentum, brought them back in the hunt with his maiden ODI hundred, former skipper Mohammad Nabi talks to CricTracker about the tour of Zimbabwe, their new coach Inzamam-ul-Haq, and lot more.

Excerpts from the interview:

Afghanistan is on a winning streak now; you guys have won 3 off the last 3 matches you played against Zimbabwe. Looking forward to making it 4 and winning the T20 series as well?

Yea, we did really well against Zimbabwe. Won 3 consecutive matches against them and we are eager to make it (the winning streak) 4, with which we will also emerge the winners of T20 series like ODI series. Hopefully, we will keep the momentum going till upcoming T20 World Cup next year in India.

You got your maiden ODI hundred in the 2nd ODI and that is where things started to turn around for Afghanistan, how different was it batting up the order?

Exactly my maiden ODI century boosted my morale a great deal. I used to captain the team few months back owing to which I couldn’t actually concentrate on my batting, but the magic in my comeback lies in the change of my batting order. Coming up the order I know my responsibility is to play sensible cricket because I know I have plenty of overs to play and if I stay up to my potentials, I can contribute a lot more runs to give a healthy look to the score-board.

Zimbabwe had just recently beaten Ireland and you guys beat them 3-2, pleased with the effort?

Well, we knew it very well that Zimbabwe was in good swing and their morale was pretty much high, having beaten Ireland, which is a very good associate side to take on. But we are pretty much pleased with our efforts, particularly with our bowling display. We don’t actually bother about our opponent that how good they have done in the recent past, we just try to stick to our plans and do our best to outplay our opponent.

How difficult was the challenge facing Zimbabwe bowlers at home?

Well, everyone knows how dangerous Zimbabwe might turn out at home. They have already proved this by beating the giants of the cricketing world. We know it will be a tough job playing them at their courtyard. Their bowling, undoubtedly, was very good but we love challenges and took it as a challenge so we actually overcame it in few of the matches if not all.

The team showed lot of character and stubbornness to beat the odds and win the series, was the series draining for the boys?

Well as I told you it was one hell of a tough job taking on Zimbabwe at their home ground but our unity and zeal for beating Test nations proved a driving force in our triumph over Zimbabwe. It hasn’t exhausted us yet rather it has lifted our morale so high that now we are ready to face other Test nations (especially the lower ranked ones).

You guys were 2-1 down and then came on to win the next two games, how was the morale in the dressing room as you guys were on the verge on losing the series?

Although we were 2-1 down and were on a threshold of losing the series but our dressing room was quite calm because we knew we had nothing to lose and the only thing we required was a strong comeback, but it was a way too strong than what we had expected. We shouldn’t keep thinking about past results, in fact we should always be ready for the upcoming encounter and try to do the best in it. Because losing or winning the game at this stage for us doesn’t make a big difference but doing well in a game is what we look for.

Inzamam-ul-Haq has been with the team as the coach, how helpful has his presence been?

He was the legend of his time. It’s an immense blessing to have him (Inzamam-ul-Haq) as our coach. He taught us the essence of cricket. He taught us that cricket is not about just coming out and bashing each and every delivery for a maximum rather it’s about patient and sensible play. Knowing the passion for this game in Afghan players, Inzi bhai is pouring his best into this team. The important thing for us is to improve our batting as our bowling was somewhat good and who else would we have asked for than Inzamam. He is just superb and our team got adapted to him quite easily and greatly.

Your bowlers were hot throughout the tour; Zimbabwe always had trouble facing the Afghan bowlers. Was there a specific plan against each batsman?

Yeah as I mentioned that we have got pretty strong bowling line up and can topple any side with our stable bowling attack. We had no specific plans against any batsman.We just wanted to get wickets at the right time and not to concede too many runs -The reason we outclassed them in this tour.

What were your expectations coming into this series?

Honestly speaking, we expected a positive outcome out of this series as we had already played them back in 2014 for a 4-matche ODI series and it ended in 2-2. Few warm-up matches against a good side (Chairman XI) really proved fruitful for us.

How much does the 1st bilateral series win, change things for you guys?

This win means a lot to us. This boosts our morale sky high but we know we still have a long way to go in order to kiss the heights of success but no doubt it is a notion that, there are more rewards for us around the corner.

The fans are really excited with the team’s performance and are eager to know what they can expect from this team in the coming days

We are really very lucky to have such a huge fan following. They always support us; no matter we are performing well or not. Luckily now we have generated fans from outside Afghanistan, particularly from South Asia with our great performance from the last few years. Our fans expectations are damn high from us and we will try our level best to live up to their expectations and do well in future. If kept the momentum, gained from this tour going, we will display one of the best performances in upcoming T20 World Cup, possibly something more than upset but I think we still need a lot more improvement. In the end I would like to thank my fans for their continuous support and prayers. Thank you!

You can follow him on Twitter Mohammad Nabi.

Get every cricket updates! Follow Us:

googletelegraminstagramwhatsappyoutubethreadstwitter

Download Our App

For a better experience: Download the CricTracker app from the IOS and Google Play Store