If you think about it, there was one of only two ways that Afghanistan’s Test debut could go. They could, with their enviable limited-overs superstars, add another page to an already evocative history that began in refugee camps. Or they could crash and burn.
So, on Friday, July 15, they crashed and burned. Bowled out twice in two sessions, their first foray into Test cricket lasted only two days.
On day two of the one-off India v Afghanistan Test at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, there was an order to several things. The lengths that Ishant Sharma bowled, for instance, confident after his county stint. The neatness with which each innings was bookended by the session breaks. Ravindra Jadeja’s unerring trajectory and sliding stops at the ropes. Ravichandran Ashwin reiterating the hierarchy of world spinners.
“When you play against the best, you will know how much you have to do to get where they are. Players see that now and it’s not just me telling them how tough Test cricket is … It [might] have been more competitive against a No.8 or No.9 team, but I will take what we get from this game.”
The learning curve was steep, he admitted. But, “I do believe they want to succeed, they want to be good at it and they work very hard. We now know that we have to work five times as hard. I believe that they will get there.”
There’s more to cricket than winning and losing, Rahane pointed out. Now, when their maiden Test caps are still shiny and red and the thrill of a dream realised still bright, that is true for Afghanistan. One day, though, it won’t be. They’ll be expected to win. And it’s up to all of the cricket world to carry them along there.
