Afghanistan are set to face India in a one-off Test match at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh, starting on Saturday, June 6. Hashmatullah Shahidi is going to lead the Blue Tigers against a strong Indian side.
Shahidi was asked about talismanic leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s future in Test cricket. While Rashid hasn’t retired from the longest format yet, he has limited himself to playing only one Test match a year. Shahidi said that the Gujarat Titans’ vice-captain and the selectors will decide on Rashid’s availability in red-ball cricket.
“Rashid has done well in the Tests (45 wickets in 6 Tests) that he has played. Personally, I haven’t spoken to Rashid about whether he will play Tests again or not. He had discussions with the selectors and I don’t want to talk about that,” Shahidi was quoted as saying at the press conference on Thursday.
Shahidi emphasised the need for Afghanistan to play more Test matches against the top teams so that they can get better in the format. He admitted that playing, on average, only two Tests a year has been a significant impediment for Afghan cricket since they made their debut in 2018.
“We played India in 2018. We have more experience now, but we need to play more to build our Test team. When it comes to domestic cricket, we play six to seven red-ball games, but in Tests we get only one or two games a year,” Shahidi said.
However, Shahidi disagreed when asked whether the young talents in Afghanistan are solely focused on playing only franchise tournaments.
“Everyone knows that our guys do very well in franchise leagues and if you see, our white-ball performances have been good. But even then, we have a lot of talent in Afghanistan who are waiting for their chance,” said Shahidi.
While the conditions are going to be hot and humid during the solitary Test match, the left-handed batter asserted that his team has what it takes to deal with such conditions.
“We had a camp in Jalalabad in Afghanistan and also played a tournament. The temperature was 35 degrees there, so we are well equipped to handle the heat,” he said.
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