After the curtains come down on the eleventh season of the Indian Premier League, India is slated to host Afghanistan’s maiden Test match from June 14-18 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Incidentally, Afghanistan earned their Test status alongside Ireland in June last year, and this will be the first time the Afghans will square off against India in a bilateral series.
With Virat Kohli set to miss the historic game owing to his upcoming stint with Surrey CCC in the English county circuit, fans won’t be able to witness a face-off between the Indian skipper and Afghanistan’s spin sensation Rashid Khan—who has dismissed the former twice in the ongoing season of the IPL.
That said, there are more reasons than one why cricket enthusiasts and national selectors alike would observe the proceedings of the one-off Test very closely, even though it seems like an apparent no-contest between the numero-uno Test team of the world and a team ranked twelfth.
We list down five such reasons:
