00:00Hi, guys. Welcome to the golf news coverage of the T20 World Cup. Obviously, we've just
00:15had Scotland versus Afghanistan. I think most people were looking to see how Scotland were
00:22going to perform, especially after their first-round win against Bangladesh, but they come up quite
00:27short tonight. First of all, I'll go to Mr. Cricket UAE, Anish Sajjan. What was your thoughts on the game?
00:33Thank you, Tom. Hello, Satish. Hello, Sahil. Yes, we were all expecting to see how Scotland
00:39performs when they come into the Super 12, but I'm afraid Afghanistan rolled over them. First
00:45of all, they won the toss and put up a decent 190. In fact, all their batsmen came and scored runs.
00:53And when it came to bowling, Mujibul Zadran, who was under the pump for so many matches in
00:58IPL, finally got his say and picked up the first five wickets in the T20 World Cup.
01:03And they won by a whopping 130 runs and have taken their net run rate to almost 6.5.
01:09So, this is a team you need to watch out. Afghanistan is a dangerous team. Other teams need to watch out.
01:15Now, obviously, you just said then about Mujib, obviously, three wickets in the third
01:20over. Satish, what did you make of his performance tonight?
01:24It's a big task for Scotland because they are still not experienced side. And it's like
01:32coming and playing Afghanistan on a Sajjan turning wicket is not an easy task. Even some
01:36experienced teams would struggle against a test-playing nation for no reason. They are there
01:42as a test-playing nation for some reason. They could do very well. And it's a good learning
01:47experience for Scotland. Actually, they did bowl quite well. And in fact, they kept the
01:52Afghanistan batsmen under check for a while. I don't think it's all gloom for Scotland. They did
01:58quite reasonably well. Of course, coming to the batting, other than the subcontent teams,
02:05you can't expect them to play the spin quite well. So, they were a little outfoxed by the
02:10spinners. Apart from that, it's a good learning experience for them. I'm sure they'll come out
02:15and be much better when they come back and play in the future games. That will hold them in good
02:20state.
02:22Sahil, obviously, Scotland did get off to a bad start when they were batting. But then,
02:26they sort of lost wickets. What was the secret behind the Afghanistan attack today?
02:34It's impossible to pick the wrong ones of Mujib. For that matter, even Rashid Khan.
02:42They are the bowlers who are the mystery spinners, you can call them. Even the experienced
02:46players who are very good with the spin. If you look at even IPL, Rashid Khan is played out
02:52because they don't know when the ball is going to spin away or come in. So, he doesn't give you that
02:57clue. He doesn't give you that. You can't read his hand quite well because of his fastest action
03:02and the way he releases the ball. So, these are very difficult to pick. And obviously,
03:08these bowlers are going to bowl a stump-to-stump line. So, you'll either get bowled or like before
03:13when you misread the ball and miss the line of the ball, basically.
03:18Sahil, how strong did you think Afghanistan looked tonight? Are they a team to watch out
03:24for in this World Cup?
03:26For sure. For sure. You saw the mentality they came in. They have all hard hitters in their team.
03:32And how sharp the stadium is. It's a very small ground. And they took good advantage of that.
03:37Zazai, Shehzad, Gurbaz, Najibullah. So, I mean, they took advantage of the ground. And of course,
03:45they are a team to watch. They have two fantastic spinners. They are spinners who get the exposure
03:50of the IPL. Rashid, Mujib. And they've got Mohammed Nabi, the captain. The guy has a
03:57complete package. So, of course, they are a team to watch out. And today, they just
04:02did to Scotland, unfortunately. But as mentioned, they will learn from this.
04:06But for sure, you're right. They are a team to watch out.
04:09Anis, Sahil just touched on it there. Obviously, the Afghanistan bowlers and batters have got a
04:15lot more experience playing over here, especially in the IPL. How much do you think that played
04:18a part tonight?
04:20It's a big part. More than anything else. The experience of rubbing shoulders with the big
04:25guys in the IPL gives you a lot of confidence. And both Najib, Mujib as well as Rashid Khan
04:31have been playing IPL for the last four years. And they also have UAE as their home ground.
04:37So most of the matches before they shifted their home ground to India, they were playing
04:41in UAE only. There was a time when UAE used to beat Afghanistan very easily. But now it's
04:48Afghanistan turning the clock and they have become a side to beat. And mind you, don't
04:54be surprised whether it is India, Pakistan or New Zealand. Don't be surprised if they
04:59beat one of them.
05:01We've got the final Group B game tomorrow. Namibia versus New Zealand. I'll just come
05:06to each of you now. Who's been sort of the one-on-one?
05:08Tomorrow, Pakistan plays New Zealand.
05:12Oh, Pakistan. Apologies. Yeah, yeah. Pakistan. Apologies. So, where does this leave Scotland
05:18in their hopes to qualify from Group B after tonight? And are Pakistan team to beat at
05:23the moment in that group?
05:24It's going to be a tough one.
05:27Satish, go ahead. Satish, go ahead.
05:29Go ahead. Go ahead.
05:32Yeah, sure. Again, it's only one game. There are five games each team plays. But anyway,
05:38even before the start, none of us gave the associate teams any chance because they are
05:44up against some very good subcontinent giants, basically, which is difficult. Even teams
05:50like New Zealand will find it difficult to beat India, Pakistan, Afghanistan in these
05:55conditions. I'm not underestimating New Zealand, but the conditions I'm talking about,
06:00because it's more spend-friendly, low bounce wickets. So, these are a bread and butter
06:05game for the subcontinental teams. So, it's OK. Nothing is lost much. But yeah, it's a
06:14good learning curve. That's why I would still come back and finish it. Anisbhai, sorry.
06:20That's fine. Go ahead, Tom.
06:23Go on, yeah. Just wanted to see, what's your sort of views on Group B at the moment?
06:26Who's the team to beat?
06:29I still back India and Pakistan to go to the semi-finals. Like Satish mentioned, the conditions,
06:34they know you're better. And I would probably go one step ahead to see them in the finals.
06:39It's my early prediction. You know, normally predictions go out of the window.
06:43But I see India and Pakistan playing the finals.
06:46Sahil?
06:47You know, you asked who's the team to beat in this group. It's got to be team India.
06:53You know, after yesterday's performance. But as you mentioned for Scotland, I don't think
06:59they have the biggest chance to go through. But surely the Asian teams like Afghanistan,
07:04Pakistan, India have the higher chance as they're used to these wickets.
07:08So, we'll have to see how it goes. It's an interesting group, to be honest.
07:11It's not a one-sided group for sure.
07:14Yeah, it's definitely wide open. All right then, guys. Well, thanks for joining us.
07:17We'll wrap it up there tonight. Obviously, keep up to date on the latest live matches,
07:23news, previews and analysis on golfnews.com.
07:26And we'll see you all tomorrow for another great day of cricket.
07:28Thank you. Bye-bye.
07:30Thanks, Tom.
