Right risk at right time: Afghanistan's batters urged to take smarter options

Afghanistan batting coach Toby Radford said his batters need to understand that they don't have to take very high risks early in the innings, as it only puts them under pressure.

Semifinalists in 2024, Afghanistan have lost to New Zealand and South Africa so far in this T20 World Cup and are on the verge of becoming one of the first teams to be eliminated from the group stage barring a miracle turnaround.

They were on course for victory against South Africa while chasing 188 in their second game, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz well set at the crease. The match slipped from their grasp once Gurbaz was dismissed, with Darwish Rasooli following him in the same over.

Although the contest eventually went into two Super Overs, Radford felt the decisive moment came when Gurbaz and Rasooli fell in quick succession - a collapse that has effectively pushed them towards an early exit. He added that the team has gone back to the drawing board to reassess their approach.

"T20 is a game of risk and its how much risk you take, what risk you take, and when you take it," Radford told Cricbuzz following their loss to South Africa.

"You know, you don't want to be taking really high risk very early on, ideally, because you know, you put yourself under pressure," he said.

"So it's what risks you take, how you take it, when you take it, and that's kind of the discussions we've tried to have, is, yes, it's a game of risk, but take the right risk at the right time," he said.

"What we've often talked about is having a key batter well in, set at the wicket, maybe on fifty, sixty, forty or whatever, but in and going well. When the last fifteen overs come, you want a batter in there who's going well. Now, whoever that is, it doesn't matter really, you know, it could be Darwish, it could be Gurbaz, and it could be Ibrahim," he said.

"Now, if you've got a set batter in and you've still got some wickets in hand, it allows you in that last five to be really explosive. And if you lose a few wickets, it doesn't matter; you can still score ten an over. And that's what we generally average is about ten, eleven an over in the last five. But you don't want to be going into the last five with seven down, you know, because you're not going to get ten in an over really with seven down. But if you're three down or four down, I'd like to think you'd get ten or eleven an over most times, you know?," he added.

Radford also stressed the importance of avoiding back-to-back wickets, saying they create enormous pressure. To prevent that, he believes someone at the crease must take responsibility for rebuilding the innings after a setback rather than persisting with an ultra-aggressive approach.

"I think I wouldn't call it an anchor role. I think, you know, if you lose two or three quick wickets, somebody's job is to rebuild. Somebody's job is to build a partnership again and get you started again. And someone has to take that on, whoever that might be at the wicket. So, you know, it's a rebuilding," said Toby.

"What you try not to do, and it does happen sometimes in T20s, you lose wickets, you know, what we call back-to-back wickets. And that's what you don't want, is two new batters, you don't want two new batters at the wicket at any one time, because it slows you down.

"So if you lose a wicket, try to build and get the new player in quickly, try to rebuild a partnership quickly so you can start again. So, you know, that's the common sense of the person at the crease, assessing the situation and then playing accordingly," he said.

"We are trying to avoid the back-to-back wickets. You know, back-to-back wickets make it difficult. They just slow you down for a few balls while somebody gets back in again and gets used to the conditions," he concluded.