Afghans boosted by Gavaskar, De Silva pep talks

Minnows Afghanistan go into their World Twenty20 clash against reigning champions England on Friday night with their morale boosted by a pep talk from two former greats of the game.Indias Sunil Gavaskar and Aravinda de Silva of Sri Lanka spoke to the squad on Thursday evening after an invitation from Afghanistans Pakistani coach Kabir Khan, media reports said.Cricket is a universal game and it feels good to interact with players, Gavaskar, the first batsman to score 10,000 Test runs, was quoted as saying.Gavaskar spoke to the players in Hindi, which they understood, while de Silvas talk in English was translated into Pashto by Khan.Afghanistans wicketkeeper Mohammad Shahzad said the pep talk was a big boost for his team.It cant get better than having Gavaskar and Aravinda speak to us, Shahzad told the Kolkata-based Telegraph newspaper.They boosted our confidence before such an important match. Gavaskar said that our fielding had to improve. There were other suggestions as well.Both of them were so supportive. Our confidence can only soar. Going forward, weve got a massive boost, Shahzad said.The Afghans, who until five years ago were playing in the lower division leagues, won hearts during a fearless display in their opening match against India on Wednesday.The part-timers from the war-ravaged nation, many of whom took up cricket in refugee camps in Pakistan, gave Indias multi-millionaires a scare before going down fighting by 23 runs.Afghanistans gritty display brought some respect to lower-ranked teams with Ireland being thrashed by Australia in their opening match and Zimbabwe already knocked out of the competition.Englands Twenty20 captain Stuart Broad, who watched Afganistans game against India on television, said his team were not taking victory for granted.Whether youre playing against Afghanistan, or the best team in the world, your principles dont change, Broad told reporters on Thursday night.By the looks of it, they dont have any fear. Theyll play a few shots.That is something we will have to counteract as a bowling unit, not get fazed by that, not panic too much.Broad was reminded of Englands shock defeats to the Netherlands at the 2009 World Twenty20 at Lords and to Ireland at last years 50-over World Cup in Bangalore.The shorter the game the more dangerous these teams are and Afghanistan are not going to hold back with the bat. It will be important we keep our cool.Englands second game will be against India in Colombo on Sunday, but victory against Afghanistan will ensure them a place in the Super Eights round.