A team needs to have its best men on the frontline when it comes to facing New Zealand in Test cricket. And if the game is in India, it’s a no-brainer to deploy a spin-heavy attack to counter the Kiwis who have grown up with pace and bounce. But Afghanistan will miss their star tweaker Rashid Khan when they take on the Black Caps in the one-off Test in Greater Noida, starting Monday.
Rashid, who has 34 wickets in just 5 Tests, will be a major absentee in the Afghanistan dugout. The leg-spinner didn’t travel to India due to a back injury which has forced him out of the longest format for close to a year. As per several media reports, he has been advised by the doctors to refrain from the red-ball games to get back in shape in the expected time.
Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi felt that the absence of the star leg-spinner would hurt Afghanistan in the only Test but at the same time, it creates an opportunity for the youngsters who have been waiting to make their name in world cricket.
“It’s tough to miss players like Rashid because he did very well in the past in Tests. We will miss him and others. We have more talented guys, it’s an opportunity for them to make their names in the world of cricket. It’s big for everyone for us. If we do well, the whole world will talk about us very positively,” Shahidi replied to a CricketNext query while addressing the pre-match press conference on Sunday.
Going into the Test match, Afghanistan have Zahir Khan, Qais Ahmed, Zia-ur-Rehman and Shams Ur Rahman among spinners to choose from. Zahir is the most experienced among the four, with 11 wickets in 5 Tests, while Qais and Zia have played 2 games each, picking up 3 and 6 wickets respectively.
23-year-old Shams was one of the uncapped players added to the squad for the New Zealand face-off. However, his First-Class figures are staggering. The left-arm off-spinner has picked up 171 wickets in 31 games at an economy of 2.57. Even Zakir has 106 wickets in 22 FC matches while Qais has 70 scalps in just 13 games.
Interestingly, all four aforementioned tweakers represented Afghanistan in the Under-19 World Cup in 2016 in Bangladesh, alongside Rashid Khan.
As per the international standards, it’s clearly an inexperienced spin quartet but Shahidi has faith in their domestic records, stating that the youngsters are certainly good at handling pressure.
“It will be a lack of experience, but when it comes to taking challenges, we are a nation that does not take a step backwards. We have talented players and we can do well in every department – some of our players have hundreds in this format. It’s tough, but if we play to our strength, we can beat any team.
“If you look at the likes of Rashid, he achieved a lot. He’s doing good. We picked players from our domestic cricket, some of the bowlers have more than 150 first-class wickets. It shows we are good, we control the pressure well,” he added.
Three uncapped players in the mix
The management named three uncapped players – opening batter opener Riaz Hassan, all-rounder Shams-ur-Rahman and pacer Khalil Ahmed – in the squad following a week-long preparatory camp. It was learned that the likes of Gulbadin Naib, Fareed Ahmad and Yama Arab were omitted while pacer Naveed Zadran was also missing due to a side strain.
Doubt over Zadran’s Participation
The question also looms over the participation of star batter Ibrahim Zadran who hurt his ankle during the team’s final practice session on Sunday.
“Today, in the practice session, Ibrahim had an injury in his ankle. But it’s not sure 100 per cent what will happen tomorrow. We will see what will happen with him,” Shahidi said.
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