Toby Radford’s Technical Tweaks Help Sediqullah Atal Save Test

Afghanistan opener Sediqullah Atal demonstrated immense resilience and improved technical discipline to secure a memorable draw against Bangladesh in their recent one-off Test match. Facing a tough final day where Bangladesh needed seven wickets to win, the left-handed batsman anchored Afghanistan’s second-innings survival with a composure that surprised many, given his background primarily as a white-ball player. He’d been a little bit out of touch and so he worked really really hard in this innings,” he said. However, the left-handed opener displayed remarkable composure and determination to defy the odds.

Atal notched his maiden Test hundred by scoring 111 runs off 332 deliveries, an innings decorated with nine boundaries and three sixes. Batting coach Toby Radford explained that key technical adjustments made all the difference following Atal’s early dismissal in the first innings, where he had been caught on the crease while reaching for wider deliveries.

According to Radford, Atal shifted his guard further across for the fifth day, allowing his head and weight to move directly down the pitch rather than across it. This strategic change helped him judge the off stump with precision, leave dangerous deliveries, play much straighter, and pick up length quickly against spinners with a clear stride forward and back. He is at his best when his weight is coming down rather than across the wicket – he did that beautifully in this wonderful innings today,” he added. Overall from a wicket perspective we read it pretty well.

Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus gave full credit to Radford and Atal for the turnaround, refusing to take praise for the batsman’s breakthrough performance. Pybus praised Atal for working hard through a recent rough patch and emphasized that the young opener now needs to carry this newfound confidence forward into the rest of his Test career. “The challenge is being able to control sessions. We had some sessions where let it slip and then we had to play catch-up cricket, for us as a side.

Pybus also commended the overall progress of the batting unit under Radford, noting that the team had set explicit goals to produce big hundreds during the Test match. He highlighted Rahmat Shah’s first-innings century alongside Atal’s second-innings marathon, lauding Radford as a skilled technical coach who communicates clearly without overcomplicating player preparation.