"The Taliban are very happy for us to continue and have been extremely supportive" - Afghanistan head coach Lance Klusener
Afghanistan head coach Lance Klusener is set to face one of the biggest challenges of his sporting career this month as he looks to plot his side's success at the ICC T20I World Cup. The country's preparations for the eagerly awaited tournament have been far from ideal, thanks in part to the Taliban takeover.
While Lance Klusener has yet to personally speak to those in charge of Afghanistan, he has said they have been very supportive of the team and want to promote cricket in the country.
"[The Taliban are] all for promoting and supporting cricket," Klusener told AFP. "By all accounts they're very happy for us to continue and have been extremely supportive. It's a huge, huge change for the country, for the people. It's going to take a little bit of time for everyone to find their feet."
Afghanistan National Cricket Team Squad for the World T20 Cup 2021. https://t.co/exlMQ10EQx
Lance Klusener: Afghanistan have the best spin attack in the world
Lance Klusener, who played international cricket for South Africa and was one of the stars of the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, is currently in Durban. He is waiting to get the go-ahead to take the Afghanistan team to the United Arab Emirates ahead of the T20I World Cup.
Klusener also believes that Afghanistan have the best spin attack in the world, led by Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi.
"We were planning at least a month's camp (in the UAE) but we are still waiting for visas, so that's not going to happen. We will try to get there as soon as we can."
"We're lucky that quite a few of our guys play in T20 leagues in various places. I think we've got the best spin attack in the world. We will be asking questions of any team we play, especially if there is a little bit of turn available."
Afghanistan are in Group 2 of the Super 12, and will face India, New Zealand, Pakistan and two qualifying teams at the T20I World Cup.
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The fixtures for the ICC Men's #T20WorldCup 2021 – Super 12 👇 https://t.co/7q4vqNibHR