Afghanistan coach Lance Klusener 'frustrated' by lack of game time ahead of T20 World Cup

Afghanistan head coach Lance Klusener expressed his frustration at how the political chaos in the nation has affected the team's schedule. The last few weeks have been challenging for the residents of Afghanistan amid the Taliban's takeover. Lance Klusener is hoping that the national side can return to the field soon.

The political turmoil also meant the ODI series against Pakistan was postponed. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan also expressed concern for his family back home while playing in The Hundred in England. However, the board denied any interference from the Taliban to the sport, confirming the team's participation in the T20 World Cup.

Lance Klusener opined that Afghanistan and Pakistan share an intense rivalry as the players looked forward to the series. The former Proteas all-rounder said they were excited to play in the series despite the captaincy changes and a few youngsters being included in the side.

"It’s a massive rivalry, a bit like India and Pakistan have, and we felt like we were capable of causing an upset there. The boys were looking forward to it. There’s been a few changes with the captain and we were going with a few youngsters," Klusener said as quoted by iol.com.za.

"We’ll just have to see what happens moving forward. We could look at having a good long camp in the UAE for a few weeks before the tournament. But we’ll have to wait on the board and see what happens from them. We are missing out on match time which is really frustrating," added Klusener.

Lance Klusener on Afghanistan's chances at the World Cup

Pakistan v Afghanistan - ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

All matches of the ICC T20 World Cup score will be available here.

Despite not playing as a national team for quite some time, Klusener spoke highly of Afghanistan's spin-bowling unit. The 49-year-old, however, has concerns about the batting department.

"We’ve got three of the best spinners in the world, Naveen Ul-Haq is the top wicket-taker in the T20 Blast in England... we’ve got the bowlers, but what I’d like is to get us working on the batting front. If we can score enough runs, we can beat anyone with our attack," noted Klusener.

Afghanistan have been placed with Pakistan, India, and New Zealand in Group 2, will open their campaign on October 25.