New Delhi, Sep 14 (IANS) Designated as 'hosts' for the three-game T20I series, Afghanistan still found themselves firmly in foreign territory when they crumbled against the might of a near full-strength India. Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus admitted that his side erred in execution and committed fundamental errors too.

The Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday swerved almost entirely to India’s beats as the Shreyas Iyer-led side sauntered to a clinical seven-wicket win. Barring a modest and vocal pocket of Afghanistan supporters, the 25,165-strong crowd cheering for India effectively turned Afghanistan's 'home' fixture into a routine away assignment.

Granted that Afghanistan took the field in a T20I game for the first time since February 19, their passive and almost resigned body language against a formidable India, especially when Abhishek Sharma went berserk to hit 82, raised concerns over whether they were caught up in overthinking or were intimated too much about facing India in India in Sunday’s game.

Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus refused to offer excuses following his side’s seven-wicket defeat to India in the T20I series opener, conceding that a lack of preparation and poor execution cost them at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

"First and foremost, I think it's important that you don't have any excuses. A lot of players came off after playing various domestic games, which is far from ideal preparation. Here we have a lot of boys who have played here in these conditions before and that equalises itself. The volume of games is a key, absolutely.

“The more you play together, the more you will understand each other's game plans, and the better you will be able to play together and even protect the squad. But it is what it is - we were lacking in execution and made fundamental mistakes.

“We will improve in that and be a lot more precise in our fundamentals. I wouldn't cast any doubt on our attempts, but our desire and our intention is always to put in good performances," he said in the post-match press conference.

It didn’t help that Afghanistan found a returning Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy, a charged up Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel too hot to handle on a good batting pitch, with half of their batting line-up gone inside the first seven overs.

"Well, I think we lost four wickets for four overs. What went wrong? Well, what went wrong is, we didn't adapt. So when I talk about us actually being able to execute, it is about assessing conditions, it's about us being able to read them and get the partnerships going. But I also need to be fair to my guys - it's our first time as a team after quiet a long time,” added Pybus.

Afghanistan’s buildup to the series was severely disrupted by weather in the capital, which hampered their on-field training sessions ahead of the game at the Yamuna Sports Complex. "We've been rain affected here in terms of our preparation, so it's important for us to get into the rhythm of the series. Obviously we wanted to win the first game, but I need to be fair to the guys and give them the opportunity for us to work through the series and see how we adapt.

“When I got off the aeroplane, we had a couple of days of torrential rain. So to be fair for groundsmen there, I mean, it was under water for two days. It wasn't ideal, it wasn't ideal - we arrived in the monsoon so we've got to be able to adapt. The key with the preparation is that, as I said earlier, it's not about making mistakes, it's about us, it's about us focusing on our game and getting it right."

With only a 24-hour turnaround before the next games comes on Tuesday, Pybus felt clarity of mind will be the key in equalizing the series scoreline. "Again, for me and myself, here it comes back to the same point. It's about turning up and not us delivering our skills - it's about our execution, we've got to be deliberate and precise.

“We saw we were off that, and we will be reviewing that, and reflecting on it. We've got a very short turnaround, we need to be much, much better going into the second game. But I think clarity of mind and being really, really clear on what we've got to deliver is key, bearing in mind how short the turnaround is."

The lone spark of defiance came from Azmatullah Omarzai, whose unbeaten 44-ball 64 took Afghanistan to a respectable 156/8. Omarzai’s late counter-attack was another example of him stepping up for Afghanistan under pressure.

Omarzai’s 64 not out is also the second-highest score by a number six or lower batter against India in T20Is, behind only Dasun Shanaka’s 74 not out in 2022. It also stands equal to new T20I skipper Ibrahim Zadran’s 64 in Dubai as the highest individual score by an Afghan batter against India in the shortest format.

"He's a very special talent. He's got the ability to judge length very quickly and get on top of the bounce against the spinners and the pacers. I think we've seen it whenever he's played for Afghanistan and through the World Cups, he's good at the pressure and he's somebody who turns up. He's a very, very good player and he's an asset to Afghanistan," said Pybus, while replying to a question from IANS.

This series marks Pybus’s first T20I assignment with Afghanistan, and he highlighted how the process of working with the seamers is still a work in progress, including Naveen-ul-Haq, who is still not match fit. Against India, the Afghanistan pacers lacked serious penetration to stop a marauding Abhishek.

"Well we have got Naveen, who’s coming back from a long-term injury, you know, we have got a leader who has been doing that for a long time, so we need to manage him. It's about getting him operating properly, it's the first time I have been with this side, as well as being with Fazal, Azmat and Naveen in this format.

"So it's about getting to know the bowlers, the work on them, trying to get them prepared, and I need time to work with them, for the staff to work with them, getting them where we want them to be. So over the next six months, we will have that time working with them and seeing how they respond and that's where we will be able to give a better reflection on how we turn up."

Despite the sub-par defensive effort with the ball, Pybus remains confident in the group's spin bowling resources delivering the goods in upcoming matches. "Long-term picture is always a given. The reality is that we are here in this series, and I think we have got a really good line-up of spin bowlers and many of them are experiencing these conditions.

“Here on this day, we were considerably short on the type of target that we should have been able to set. Again execution is an issue, it's not a lack of skills. Short, medium and long-term planning with the development leading to players back in Afghanistan is always hundred percent. But I do think we have got a highly talented and very competent spin bowlers in the team - it's about us getting our game together in the next year or two."

Looking at the broader trajectory of the team, Pybus mentioned the gulf that currently exists between Afghanistan and top-ranked sides like India, while backing Zadran to bounce back from a tough debut game as the T20I captain.

"Well, the development of the side of the team is, we're number 10 in the rankings, and we're playing as the number one team. So we want to incrementally work our way through that. In the development of any side, we've got to get this first skill, get our foundations right.

"There's a definitive gap in understanding and execution when you're playing against the top sides of the world. So I think with Ibrahim, I've got to say to him as captain, obviously we're just a group together, I've got to be able to support him 100 percent. He's got to get it in there and he needs to know he's got my confidence.

"Again, in developing his relationships with his players, he's absolutely brand new in the role. I know that he's stood in previously for Rashid, etc. So long term is just keep on improving the side, developing the side. I'm really looking forward to the next couple of games.

"We're much, much better than what we showed here. Getting the guys focused and long term, where do you want to go? I mean, we've seen the development of Afghanistan pretty historically and it's been exponential. So we want to, when we're playing these series, we want to come here and win this series. There's plenty of work to be done as you can see," Pybus concluded.

--IANS

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