Coach Rajput gives us confidence – Shahidi

Afghanistan’s development from a struggling team to a genuine threat to higher-ranked sides can be traced through the progressive contributions of their last few coaches. Taj Malik laid the foundations before Kabir Khan got them to think like international cricketers. Andy Moles took them to the 2015 World Cup, after which Inzamam-ul-Haq guided them to their maiden ODI and T20I series wins, over Zimbabwe.

Now it is Lalchand Rajput, the former India batsman, who is taking Afghanistan further into unchartered territory. On October 1, in the third ODI, they will seek to take their next big step, by clinching their first-ever bilateral series against Bangladesh.

Rajput was appointed in June this year after Inzamam left the role to take over as Pakistan’s chief selector. So far, Rajput has been able to consolidate and build on the progress made during Inzamam’s seven months as coach. Afghanistan now seem to be at least on par with Ireland, and a cut above all other Associate nations.

A 2-1 series result could lead to their rise up the ODI rankings, which would be a huge confidence boost for the emerging team. Young batsman Hashmatullah Shahidi said that Rajput’s …

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