Lalchand Rajput, the former Team India manager has come out and stated ahead of India's historic Test match against Afghanistan in Banglore that the wrist spinner Rashid Khan can be absolutely lethal and unplayable at his best.
Rashid poses a great threat when the game begins and the Afghanistan head coach till last year has now reiterated and echoed the sentiment.
Rajput was recently quoted saying to the SportStar that, “The side(Afghanistan) is well balanced and it has got some really good spinners in Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Zadran, who could be lethal. But then, the team has not played five-day cricket in the past and that could be a challenging task for them,”
He knows that Test match cricket is few notches above to whatever the Afghan players have experienced so far but backs them to do well.
“Test cricket is a different ball game altogether. Unlike the shorter formats, here it is very important to control emotions and stay focussed till the last day. This will be a first such outing for the Afghanistan side and it will be interesting to see how they handle the pressure,”
“In Test cricket, one has to bowl for at least 20 overs, far more than [in T20s] and [One-Day Internationals]. All this while, these guys have focussed mostly on bowling four overs or 10 overs. But now, the entire equation would change,"
Rashid Khan has the game for it, but Lalchand Rajput, having seen him over the last few years knows that transition for Test Cricket will take its own time. He said, “Rashid is very accurate with his delivery and he uses his fingers pretty well while delivering the ball. That makes him quite lethal. But if a batsman reads him well, he is playable,”
He gave an example of the recently concluded Indian Premier League final for it and said, “Chennai Super Kings took a smart decision. It played Rashid tactfully and did not allow him to find breakthroughs. That’s one formula which could work in Test cricket as well. With a bit of focus, a good batsman will be able to tackle Rashid,”
Afghanistan's rise as a cricket nation has been a fantastic journey. Lalchand Rajput understands it, “They have taken a big leap and the journey has been phenomenal. There was a time when not many knew about Afghanistan team and now, they are playing so well. It is a fascinating journey,”
(Inputs from SportStar)
