"It should be a fair contest," Afghanistan Coach slams ICC After T20 World Cup 2024 Semi-final Defeat

Afghanistan's magical run in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 came to an end as the Rashid Khan-led side suffered a 9-wicket defeat against South Africa in Trinidad. After opting to bat first, Afghanistan could only put 56 runs on the board, their lowest in T20 internationals and also the lowest in the history of T20 World Cups. After the match, head coach Jonathan Trott slammed ICC, saying it wasn't even an "even contest".

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Jonathan Trott blamed ICC for the terrible pitch

"I don't want to get myself into trouble. But I also don't want to sound a bit like 'sour grapes' but that's not the pitch that you want to have a semi-final of a World Cup on. Plain and simple. It should be a fair contest. I'm not saying it should be completely flat with no spin and seam movement, you shouldn't have batters worrying about moving forward and having the ball fly over their head. You should be confident in getting through the line or using their skills. And T20 is all about attacking and scoring runs and taking wickets. Not looking to survive," said Trott during the press conference.

Trott wanted the pitch to offer something to both his side and South Africa. However, he feels his team was betrayed by a surface that favoured the opponent team more.

"If the opposition bowled well and gets you into a position after bowling well and through skill, then it's fine to them. Then it's about adapting. If we had bowled the way South Africa had, you could have seen a different second half," he added.

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Trott also spoke about the hectic schedule that the Afghanistan team had to go through.

"We only got back to the hotel at three o'clock and then we had to leave at eight o'clock. We didn't get much sleep so the guys were very tired and had a lot to process emotionally and physically. So all new territory for the guys," Trott said.

"But we knew the schedule, so that's not an excuse as such. When you go in World Cups or tournaments, you can't have everything your way, and you've got to fight and play against the odds which you've done at times, and very proud of that. But it's no, it's not the reason why we didn't win today."

"South Africa bowled well, used the conditions, and showed our boys what it's capable of. But it just didn't go our way tonight." He concluded.