Former Afghanistan coach Lalchand Rajput is elated to see them finally making their debut in the Test cricket against India, saying it is an emotional moment for the entire country.
Rajput told Press Trust of India, “It is a historic test match and an emotional moment for the Afghanistan players. People and supporters of the Afghanistan team were looking forward to this great event.”
Afghanistan had earned the Test status along with Ireland last June under Rajput and he is really happy for them as they have finally become the 12th Test playing nation on Thursday (14 Jun) in Bangalore, where they are currently playing their debut Test against India.
Former Afghan coach has also expressed his hopes that the fast-growing nation will continue to carry forward the hard-work to achieve a lot of laurels on the field.
The 56-year-old further added, “I am really happy for them, we really worked hard to get to this position, and hopefully they carry forward the hard-work.”
Meanwhile, the 19-year-old leg-spinner Rashid Khan has already made himself a brand in T20 cricket and a successful bowler in White-ball cricket as well. The 17-year-old Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman has also proved his mettle in the shorter format.
The former coach believes that their potential will be tested by the traditional format of the game, which will decide whether they are capable of playing the longest format.
The former Mumbai batsman added, “See, the shorter format they have done exceptionally well and they have to deal with the longer format and so time will tell (whether they are successful). Rashid is one bowler, who can adjust (to the longer format), but test match is a different ball game.”
Rajput signed off by saying, “Mujeeb has just come in and he had a successful IPL. The batsmen will take their own time to play and the main thing is that a bowler has to keep patience, bowl a lot of spells and that has to be seen whether they can do it in a Test match.”
