'Important you celebrate victories': Trott wants Afghanistan players to bask in their success

Afghanistan's fixture list sees them play New Zealand in Chennai less than 72 hours after they pulled off the most famous win in the country's sporting history by beating England in Delhi on Sunday night. But their coach Jonathan Trott's message to his players was simple: "It's important that you celebrate your victories."

Despite having won only one of their previous 17 matches at World Cups before their 69-run victory over the defending champions, Afghanistan's ambition in this tournament was to qualify for the semi-finals. As a result, Trott admitted he needed to guard against complacency when they head south.

And yet, drawing on the experience of his own playing career, Trott said that it was only right that his players should bask in their success. "I'm very keen not to put a dampener on things or tell them to focus on the next game," Trott said. "I know from my career and my experience, I never soaked up enough, or enjoyed moments [like these].

"I'm certainly going to say to the guys, 'enjoy tonight, spend some time together, whatever you want to do.' As soon as we land in Chennai, in 12-18 hours' time, we switch on for the next game and it's back to business. It's important you celebrate your victories, because they're so hard and they're always such a challenge.

"We've got to move on quite quickly… but I think it's important that the guys enjoy it. But also, [that they] take stock and realise when they get a certain amount of things right in the 50 overs or the 100 overs, what they can achieve and the level of teams that they can put under pressure and compete with and win cricket matches."

Trott suggested that his players had benefited from the experience of playing with and against England's players in franchise leagues, realising that despite their status as world champions, they were "human" too. "They get to know the ins and outs of each player, so there's that familiarity and also the confidence," he said.

"Sometimes, I think when you see big Test-playing nations, you hold them in high regard. Playing with players like that, you see that they are human, and you are just as entitled to win or do well [as they are]... that's the beauty of the World Cup, isn't it? That's what cricket is about.

"I'm just chuffed with the players. The things that we've spoken about as a side, we've agreed if we get these things right, we can compete with anybody in the world. These guys work incredibly hard. I'm really impressed with them. They will see the rewards, and this will encourage them to kick on even more."

Trott also acknowledged the bigger picture of Afghanistan's win. Last weekend, over 1,000 people were killed and many more injured in an earthquake in the west of the country. The players wore black armbands in memory of the victims during their defeat to India on Wednesday, and several players have donated substantially to relief efforts.

"It's not just cricket that the guys are playing for," Trott said. "The guys are very knowledgeable of the things and the hardship that some people are going through because of the natural disaster, and for various other reasons. If this can give a smile to people's faces anywhere in the world, but also encourage boys and girls to pick up a cricket bat or a cricket ball and get playing cricket wherever they are in Afghanistan, then that's the goal that's been achieved.

"It's very pleasing. There's a lot of confidence that will hopefully come from this when competing against the bigger nations and it'll have a knock-on effect to all the other games - not only in this World Cup, but for the future as well. [It shows] just what Afghanistan cricket can achieve… we don't fear anyone. Every game we are here to play, and we are here to win."