There is a plenty of buzz surrounding around Afghanistan’s debut Test, against India, starting on Thursday (June 14).
Cricket fans are eagerly waiting to see how the Test debutants will match up to the numero uno Test side, which will start their international season after seven weeks of fireworks in the Indian Premier League 2018.
Besides, there is a lot of anticipation concerning the showdown between Indian and Afghan spinners. While the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have dominated the international circuit for some years, Afghanistan’s wrist-spinners such as Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have taken the cricketing fraternity by storm with their remarkable showing in the recently concluded Indian Premier League.
Playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rashid finished the IPL 2018 campaign as the second highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps from 17 matches, whereas Mujeeb claimed 14 wickets in 11 games for Kings XI Punjab. Moreover, Rashid recently clinched the top spot in ICC T20I rankings for bowlers after taking 8 wickets in Afghanistan’s 3-0 T20I series victory over Bangladesh at Dehradun.
In order to counter the challenge of Afghan wrist-spinners, India’s team management on Monday (June 11) called in Yuzvendra Chahal and Shivil Kaushik in the net session. The motive behind their call-up in the nets was to give adequate practice to the India batsmen against Afghanistan leggies.
Shivil Kaushik and Yuzvendra Chahal called in to the India nets. A sign perhaps that the team management wants all their batsmen to face enough wristspin?
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) June 11, 2018
Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in the absence of regular skipper Virat Kohli, who is currently going through the rehabilitation period after suffering a neck injury during the IPL.
