2. IS AFGHANISTAN’S SPIN DUO GOOD ENOUGH TO SHINE IN TESTS?

Few youngsters have made more buzz on the global cricket circuit in recent years than nineteen-year-old Rashid Khan has. A cunning operator who loves to exhibit his oeuvre of variations every now and then, Rashid has been one of the hottest properties on display in limited-overs cricket over the last couple of years. The real acid test awaits him now.

For him to evolve from a T20 mercenary to an esteemed leg-spinner, Rashid must work out a way to excel in Test cricket—a format founded on the tenets of discipline, patience, keen alertness and a stomach for fight. Partnering him in the spin department will be teenage wonder Mujeeb Ur Rahman who left everyone awestruck with his fantastic breakthrough season for the Kings XI Punjab in which he picked up 14 wickets from 11 games at an economy rate of 6.99.

A near-carbon-copy of Rashid with a wide array of tricks in his armoury, Mujeeb is adept at bowling his stock delivery (the leg break) as also the occasional googly and the carom ball.

As far as their first-class records are concerned, Rashid has taken 35 first-class wickets in four matches @ 15.05 apiece, whereas Mujeeb who has yet to make his first-class debut, has scalped 43 List-A wickets @ 19.27 apiece from twenty-two games. More than anything else, the Test match would serve as a learning curve for this young duo that will hold the key to Afghanistan’s Test fortunes in the long run.