After getting their test status in 2017, Afghanistan will begin their test journey against India at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore from 14th June. The hosts India would without their regular captain Virat Kohli who has been ruled out of an injury.
Five Reasons Why We Should Look Forward To The India vs Afghanistan Test Match
India is currently the number 1 test side in the world and would be the favourites to win a one-off test match. Afghanistan has shown lots of promise in cricket, could pose a threat and Rahane the captain for the historic test match would not take the Afghan team lightly.
Here we look at the 5 reasons why India cant take Afghanistan lightly in their debut test match
1. The threat from Afghanistan spinners
Afghanistan has named a spin-heavy squad for a one-off test match. They have Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Nabi, Hamza Hotak and Zahir Khan Pakteen. Rashid Khan was exceptional for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the recently concluded IPL 11 picking up 21 wickets from 17 matches and dismissed top quality batsmen.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman also did a decent job for Kings XI Punjab in his debut season. He took 14 wickets from 11 matches and dismissed top quality players. Other 3 spinners are also impacted by bowlers. With no Virat Kohli in the side, Rashid Khan would a major threat in spin-friendly conditions at M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
2. Used to Indian conditions
The Afghanistan players are used to play in Indian conditions. They used to play most of the matches in Greater Noida and now they will take on Bangladesh in three matches T20I series at Dehradun. Two or three players feature in the Indian Premier League. Most of them have played in World T20 in 2016 under different conditions.
Indian Cricket team should not prepare spinning pitch for the historic test match. If India prepares a spinning pitch, the spinners of Afghanistan might create a problem for Indian batsmen.
3. Fighting spirit from the Afghanistan Cricket team
Afghanistan is known for their fighting spirit on the cricketing ground. In the World Cup qualifiers this year, Afghanistan had a poor start to tournament finishing 3rd and reaching the Super Six stage. In the Super Six stage, they won all their matches and thus qualified for the ICC World Cup 2019.
Afghanistan won the finals of the tournament by beating West Indies. This shows that they don’t go down without a fight. The Indian team must play a dominating cricket and not give the new test member nation a chance.
Ireland gave a tough to Pakistan in their debut test match at Dublin. Like that Afghanistan must be hoping for a similar performance.
4. Indian regular performers not in the squad
The Indian Cricket team will be without their star players like Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar have been rested for the historic test match. After 2 months of IPL, Indian team could face the problem of playing test cricket.
India has a weak middle order as Karun Nair, Rahane, Pujara, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja could be facing a tough test against Afghanistan Cricket team.
5. Experience of playing international cricket
The Afghanistan Cricket team has the experience of playing some international cricket. They played their ODI match in 2009. In 98 ODI Matches, they have won 51 matches and lost 45. Most of the matches were against Ireland, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Scotland.
They played their first T20I match in 2010. Since then they have featured in 4 T20 World Cups and also their major 50 over World Cup in 2015. Mohammad Nabi, Mohammed Shahzad, their captain Stanzkai have been quality cricket. Indian Cricket must not take their eyes from the game, either wise the Afghanistan team can cause an upset.