Cricket World Cup: England clash 'nothing personal' for Afghanistan coach Jonathan Trott

The last time the Cricket World Cup was held in India a dozen years ago, Trott was a fixture of the England side that crashed out in the quarter-finals.

He went on to play 68 ODIs and still boasts the second highest average of anyone with at least 20 innings with 51.25, sitting behind only Dawid Malan.

But despite his eight years wearing the Three Lions he is trying not to overplay the emotional significance of Sunday’s meeting in Delhi.

"No, there's no extra motivation. It's just another team that hopefully we can beat," Trott said.

"There is some sort of familiarity and I find it a pleasure to play against England. So it's going to be a challenge, for sure, but nothing personal.

"There's no sort of agendas or anything like that, it's just another cricket match and that's what I try and express to the guys.

"At a World Cup you know there's lots of sort of distractions around and emotions that could you know come into play but it is going to be exciting and I’m really looking forward to it."

As ever when Afghanistan are concerned, master leg-spinner Rashid Khan carries the bulk of his nation's hopes. He will be keen to set the record straight after coming unstuck in dramatic fashion at Old Trafford in the 2019 tournament, shipping an eye-watering 110 in nine overs, including 11 sixes of his bowling.

That still looks like an anomaly of a performance and Trott was bullish about his star man's chances of troubling England at a ground where South Africa smashed a World Cup record 428 against Sri Lanka just days ago.

"I don't think Rashid needs the conditions to suit him to cause mayhem, does he?" he said.

"I can't speak highly enough about the guy, the way that he performs and his passion for playing for this side. I know that he puts a lot of pressure on himself to perform and lead the attack, but it's the job of all the other guys who have the ball in their hand to cause mayhem and put a bit of pressure on England too.

"It is going to be a high-scoring game you would say, looking at the pitch in the previous two games, so it's a case of the other bowlers making sure they are as switched on as Rashid normally is."

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