New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS) Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus said his side had been ‘benchmarked’ and ‘tested’ by India in their 3-0 T20I series loss to the heavyweights and admitted there was ‘nowhere to hide’ for them after being bowled out for 94 in the third T20I at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Afghanistan had a long gap since playing their last T20 World Cup group stage game in February, and the defeat to India has exposed exactly where they currently stand right now in terms of the shortest format.

"We've got a lot to work on. I think I said the other day this is our first T20 series since the World Cup. That's a really long break. Some of these guys have just come back into the squad for the first time since then. We've been benchmarked, tested and we can see where our deficits are. Now we need to go to work.

"We were poor. We were pleased to start off with winning the toss and getting an opportunity to chase. Our first 10 overs with the ball - our control wasn't good enough and Abhishek and Sanju batted beautifully up front. I was really pleased with the way we came back from 10 to 20 overs. I thought our fight back was phenomenal, skills and intent in the field was much better,” Pybus said in the post-match press conference.

Though Afghanistan gave away 79 runs from the last 60 balls in India’s innings, after Abhishek Sharma blew them to hit 108 and rack up 100 runs in power-play, Pybus was still left ruing the inconsistency with the ball. "I thought we were brilliant in the field in those back 10 overs. Rashid led that. He was superb. With the batting, you're chasing 220.

“The intent is to go and chase it down. You have got scoreboard pressure and go at 11 runs and over. There's nowhere to hide. If you come up short, it's no good scoring 150 and being behind the rate.

“We've got to execute our game plan. We didn't deliver. I thought that up front with Ibrahim and Gurbaz, we were much better in terms of our intent. We brought our game to the Indian opening bowlers, but we couldn't hold that consistency."

Afghanistan's batting hadn’t stepped up to the enormous talent they have in the first two T20Is. In the third T20I, after making 31 runs in the first three overs, it did not qualify as a performance at all. That slide, coupled with scoreboard pressure, led to Afghanistan finishing six short of the three-figure mark, and 14 fewer than Abhishek’s 108.

Pybus stated the problem was execution under pressure, not the batting order. "I don't think it's much of the batting order, it's the execution. Ibrahim and Gurbaz at the top of the order are an established pair. Again I thought our intent was much better. I thought we were too passive in the last game. I thought we let India bowl to us. So I was happier with the way that we took on the Indian attack.

"Again it comes back to execution under pressure and you're chasing 220, you've just got to keep on going. So there are areas for all of our players to improve and a little bit like with the bowling, against an attack as good as India's, you're facing Jasprit and Axar - these are absolutely world-class operators and you've got to be very clear in your game plans.

"So we've got work to do and really to come here and play in India against the best T20 side in the world and understand what it's like to play under pressure - this isn't league cricket, it isn't international cricket against lower-ranked sides. This is the ultimate examination. So we can see very clearly what we've got to work on."

His bowlers, as per Pybus, had discovered how small the margins are against India's openers on flat pitches. "We're bowling to some really fine opening batters on fantastic surfaces. The reality is with players like this on these surfaces, you can get hit off your length.

“You can get hit off the top of your bounce. They're superb at it. The other side of that is that we need to be much, much better. Our control, our disciplines. On wickets like this, your length is about 12 inches. On one side of the length, you're getting pulled. The other side of the length, you're getting driven.

"It's an opportunity for our cricketers, particularly for our bowlers, to understand the skill levels you need to have to be able to control the game. Until you have an experience like this, you don't know what it is, really.

“When you've got the guys who are hitting you as a spin bowler, as we saw in the last game with Rash and Nabi, where literally you miss your length by six inches, it's gone back over your head off the back foot for six. It's a proper challenge. But again, until you actually have this experience, you don't know what it is."

With the 2028 T20 World Cup in view, Pybus felt any mental hold big teams like India have over Afghanistan would have to be broken one step at a time. "If there is an issue with a side where the opposition have got the wood over you, when you work through that, you do it stage by stage.

“You're conditioning and got to get your skills right. Off the back of improving your skills, then your strategy improves. Until you get your skills to world-class level, you really don't have a strategy and then once we get our strategy right, then we've got to execute under pressure.

"It's fine when you're playing lower-ranked sides and maybe you can beat them on skill. But to come to India, historically it's been one of the great challenges in world cricket. I don't think it's any different for Afghanistan. You're playing against players who are grounded in their game here with a volume of games in the IPL, and they're unbelievable playing on these surfaces.

"But again, if you want to go in the T20 format, if we want to be able to go to the World Cup in 2028 and to be looking to have a game which is going to take us to get into the last rounds and then be there to fight through those stages, we've got to deal with it.

“But it really is - when you have those psychological issues, you've got to do it step by step. Again, when you come here, it's the ultimate challenge. You've got to be up for it. But you've also got to have the skills and the strategy to be able to deliver. When sides are evolving, when you are putting your calendar together, you need a mixture of opponents, and this is the best opponent we can have for us to work out exactly where we're at.

“I think the boys are bitterly disappointed, obviously here in particular and I think there will be some serious reflection, really and then it's up to myself and the coaching staff to get busy with them," he explained.

Pybus also gave an update on pacer Naveen-ul-Haq, who sat out of all three games due to a shoulder niggle. "Naveen irritated his shoulder in training. We've had him here to be able to gauge where he's at in his comeback. He got some decent bowling early on. When we were here before we started coming into these three matches, the good news is the irritation has got nothing to do with his old injury.

"It's obviously disappointing for him, but the irritation is something which we just need to safeguard him against, in the sense that we don't want it to get any worse. But I think he's really made some progress. He's just got to be patient.

"He's got some really fantastic support staff around him who are hugely experienced. Our goal is to get him back to his best and we don't want to rush that. I know he's absolutely desperate to play and I know he's disappointed he couldn't play, but we want to get him 100 percent ready so he can play at his best."

--IANS

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