Afghanistan are getting ready to play their maiden Test match, against India in Bangalore from June 14, and got themselves in the mood for it with a 3-0 demolition of Bangladesh in a T20I series over the last week.
Playing T20 matches might not be the best way to prepare for Test cricket, but it is what it is for the Afghans, and they are not complaining. For Bangladesh, though, it was yet another underwhelming display that will do their ambitions no good.
“I think it is a mental block that we haven’t been able to overcome till now. It would have been good if we could have won the match but going so close and yet falling short is painful.”
With less than a week to go for the Test debut, Asghar Stanikzai, the Afghanistan captain, was gung-ho. “Great preparation for the Test match against India – the morale is high,” he said. “Last couple of years we have performed well. We want to achieve it for Afghanistan. You see the batsmen, bowlers are all in good form.”
PHOTOS: An emphatic victory for Afghanistan to win the Biman Bangladesh Airlines T20I series 3-0. #AFGvBAN pic.twitter.com/QWAeix7dFp
— Afghanistan Cricket Board (@ACBofficials) June 7, 2018
If Afghanistan have to push India, the No.1 Test team in the world, hard, Khan has to come to the fore again, that’s no secret.
“Full credit to my fitness – if you’re fit, you can deliver in any department; it doesn’t matter whether I’m playing in league cricket or the national team, I just want to enjoy,” he said of the big occasion.
If he can deliver, it will be an engrossing Test match.
