Afghanistan were unaware of NRR permutations vs Sri Lanka in Asia Cup 2023 match, says head coach Jonathan Trott

Afghanistan failed to qualify for the Super Four round of Asia Cup 2023.

Afghanistan were 289 for 8 at the end of the 37th over. The team needed three runs off one ball in order to better the net run rate of Sri Lanka to qualify for the Super Four of the Asia Cup.

Mujeeb ur Rahman went for a big shot off Dhananjaya de Silva but found the fielder at the long-on boundary. Following his dismissal, Rashid Khan was visibly dejected and sank to his knees, believing that their chance to make it to the Super 4s was over.

However, Afghanistan could have still made it to the next round if Fazalhaq Farooqi scored a boundary off the second ball of the 38th over or six off the third ball or even if he took a single to give a strike to Rashid Khan to allow him to finish the match by himself. Though the team had multiple scenarios to make it to the next round, Farooqi ended up blocking the next two deliveries. Afghanistan picked up a consolation win in the match but was knocked out of the tournament.

We have never communicated those calculations: Jonathan Trott

Talking about the NRR Permutations in the post-match conference, Afghanistan head coach Jonathan Trott confirmed that the team was not aware of the calculations. "We have never communicated those calculations," he said. "All we were communicated was we needed to win in 37.1 overs. We weren't told what the overs in which we could get 295 or 297, was never communicated to us." he added.

The team's analyst usually has a track of the NRR calculations, which are straightforward. In high-pressure games like these, the teams turn to their analysts for the calculations and they have been successful in helping the team out of the hole. In the 2014 IPL, Mumbai Indians qualified for the playoffs because of their NRR Calculations. The team needed 190 in 14.3 overs. When they got to 189, Mumbai Indians keeper Aditya Tare smashed a six to ensure that the net run rate was ahead of the Rajasthan Royals. The team eventually made it to the playoffs.

Despite the confusion, Trott refused to blame the calculations alone for the loss. He said that the bowling could have been better in both games.

"I don't think there's one reason we lost the game," Trott said. "There are areas of the game we could have done better. That goes for today's game and the one against Bangladesh. It'd be nice if we'd bowled them out a bit cheaper," he added.

Afghanistan conceded 334 against Bangladesh and 291 against Sri Lanka, who have qualified for the Super Four stage from Group B. India and Pakistan made it to the Super Four stage from Group A. The teams in the Super Four will now face each other once and the top two teams will meet in the final of Asia Cup 2023 on 17th September.