"If you could amalgamate the two, you could have something close to Virat Kohli" - Jonathan Trott heaps praise on young Afghanistan duo

Former England batter and current head coach of the Afghanistan team, Jonathan Trott heaped praise on the young and exciting openers Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz and their exploits in the 2023 World Cup.

Gurbaz and Zadran were prolific for Afghanistan and one of the main reasons why they rose as a batting force in white-ball cricket. They always had strong spinners, but it was their batting that has stepped up in the World Cup.

Speaking to Wisden, here's what Jonathan Trott had to say about the differences between Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmaullah Gurbaz's game:

​

"It's really interesting like the two of them and very different characters. Similar ages. Very different characters. Ibrahim Zadran, very studious, very quiet, very methodical, very professional, great athlete, works hard at the game, thinks a lot about it, Where Gurbaz is one of the most talented young players I have ever seen. If he had a little bit of what Ibrahim has and if Ibrahim had a bit of boldness and brashness that Gurbaz has, if you could amalgamate the two, I think you will have something close to Virat Kohli."

---

Ibrahim & Gurbaz can be good in all three formats for Afghanistan: Jonathan Trott

Jonathan Trott also spoke about how much enjoyed working with both Ibrahim and Gurbaz and how they worked on the two batters realizing their potential across all three formats.

On this, Trott stated:

​

"In talent wise, dedication to the game, and professionalism, you would have a real monster on your hands. The interesting part for me as a coach is I enjoy working with both of them immensely. I think those two, they could be as good as they want to be in all three formats."

The fact that Afghanistan just about missed out on a World Cup semifinal birth shows how far they have come as a cricketing nation.

​