Whiteboards, confidence and Rashid Khan's infectious energy: Ingredients behind Afghanistan’s World Cup success

A third victory of the tournament means that Afghanistan are leading the chasing pack for the semi-final qualification places, after winning just a single Men's Cricket World Cup fixture in their history prior to this event.

Impressive Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka to strengthen semi-final hopes

Afghanistan have achieved their winning feats without completely relying on main man Rashid Khan, who has matured into a mentor in a squad packed full of young talent.

“Rashid Khan is the best player and he is a very energetic guy so all the team is full of energy around him,” captain Hashmatullah Shahidi said after Monday’s victory over Sri Lanka.

The talented Rashid, who celebrated his 100th ODI appearance for Afghanistan against Sri Lanka, is the team’s top wicket-taker for the tournament with seven in six matches.

But Afghanistan’s success hasn’t been built solely on the brilliance of the leg-spinner, with the whole attack contributing and the team’s batting standing up.

“There's such an amount of talent,” coach Jonathan Trott said after watching his squad’s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in Pune.

“It’s just about giving them a bit of structure or a bit of a game plan, understanding what makes them the best players that they can be - tactically wise, but also the way that they train and they think about themselves.”

That structure was clear to see in a chasing effort that featured outstanding half-centuries from three of the top five, with Afghanistan’s confidence visibly growing throughout a composed batting effort.

“The Pakistan chase gave us a lot of confidence and belief that we can chase any kind of target,” Hashmatullah said.

“Before the Pakistan game the coach's words changed my mindset a lot. As a captain you should lead from the front foot so I am trying my best, I am very happy that I finished the game and I will try to maintain that in upcoming games.”

Afghanistan’s patient and professional run-chase followed the simple blueprint spelled out on a whiteboard in the changing room.

Television cameras picked up a batting plan, scrawled on the board, that set targets for each 10 overs – 50 runs after 10 overs, 100 runs after 20 overs, and so on.

While not being the most complicated of tactics, the simplicity of the messaging was a reminder that there is plenty of time when chasing down a target of 242 – something that some other teams have seemingly failed to appreciate in the tournament.

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“I think when it's batting first, it's a little bit different,” Trott said when asked about the whiteboard strategy.

“I think it's more a case of communication and the targets will change.

“When it's chasing, the target obviously never changes, unless it's Duckworth Lewis. So, there's a bit more focus with regards to breaking it down into smaller targets.

“But sometimes, certainly like the Pakistan game, chasing 280 and starting on zero, it's a long way away. But if you break it down, it seems a lot more manageable.

“It’s those sorts of things, the little things, you know, motivating the players and keeping them in touch with where we want to be. And it's also a feel-good factor. If you know you're on the right track, it's also a nice feeling as well.

“We don't want to limit the guys on what they can do batting first. We want them to assess the conditions and make sure we go out there and get as many as we can. So, it just worked out that we chased today.”

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Afghanistan’s win was finished off by the batters, but was set up by the bowling attack.

The talismanic Rashid slotted into his role perfectly, taking 1/50 from his 10 overs, with that lone dismissal being an outstanding working over of Dhananjaya de Silva.

But, as has been the case for Afghanistan with the ball this tournament, it was a team effort across a talented spin group.

“I think for us, the spinners always to bowl with a dry ball is always going to be crucial and getting a bit of turn,” Trott said.

“We saw the way Noor (Ahmad) bowled last game and the wickets he got.

“We're very lucky in that we’ve got options to be able to select for quite different conditions, but also different conditions when it comes to weather and the effect that the weather has on the pitch and the outfield.”

Perhaps even more encouragingly for Afghanistan, it wasn’t just the spinners who starred with the ball, as pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi put in a Player of the Match performance.

“I looked for swing early on but didn't get it so then I kept it simple and hit the right areas,” Farooqi said after his returns of 4/34 from 10 overs.

“That was the plan for the spell and I got success in it.

“We struggled in the past in the last overs, gave away too many runs, but we bowled with variations today and the hard work in net sessions helped.”

Netherlands await Afghanistan next up, where a win would put them squarely in the semi-final conversation.