Five Afghanistan Players Who Can Pose a Threat to India in One-off Test

Afghanistan is all set to appear in their historic maiden Test match against India, the No. 1 ranked Test side in the world. The iconic fixture will be beginning on 14^th June at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Moreover, Indian Test team is definitely best in the business at the current time but the Afghans have some impressive players in their ranks who can give a run for their money.

They will be high on confidence after winning the Twenty20 International series against Bangladesh by a 3-0 margin.

Furthermore, it was a sensational performance by leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who was the wrecker-in-chief while bagging eight wickets in the tournament.

In addition, there are some other special spinners in their ranks to pose a threat for the hosts. Somewhat the batting order also looks fine but it’s nowhere close to India.

However, the visiting spinners have the ability to outclass their Indian counterparts.

Now, let us have a look at the five possible players who can pose a threat to India:

Mohammad Shehzad:

The heavily built opening batsman has been an outstanding addition to Afghanistan since they started playing cricket. He has made a significant impact in the limited-overs format.

Shehzad on his day has the ability to take any bowling attack to the cleaners. He will surely be tested against a quality Indian bowling attack. However, he would look to come out with flying colours.

Aggressive batter Shehzad boasts of an outstanding average of 54.55 and a healthy strike rate of 73. He has the ability to play the long innings and his highest score of 214 is a reflection of his capabilities even in the longer version of the game.

Asghar Stanikzai:

Stanikzai is the captain of the Afghanistan team across all three formats of the game. He is a solid middle-order batsman and can also play the big shots to perfection.

The right-handed batsman Stanikzai has a calm head which will be crucial if Afghanistan hopes of creating something special.

It will be a great opportunity for them to show the whole world what they are capable of and for that Stanikzai will play a big part in the middle order.

The dynamic leader has also led Afghanistan admirably in the One-day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals formats. The way he has made the bowling changes in the recently concluded T20I series against Bangladesh shows the calm demeanour of the man.

Stanikzai has an average of 44 in the first-class circuit and the No. 1 team led by Ajinkya Rahane obviously cannot take them lightly.

Mujeeb-ur-Rahman:

The 17-year-old spinner was a find of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He was quite brilliant for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).

The delivery he bowled to Virat Kohli which breached his defence was one of the best deliveries of the tournament.

The promising youngster Mujeeb was quite impressive and most of the top class batsmen found it difficult to cope with his variations.

Owing to the guile, Mujeeb bagged 35 wickets in 15 ODI’s so far. Mujeeb became the youngest player to be part of the IPL. He has a quite few mysteries up his sleeve and India cannot afford to take him lightly.

However, he doesn’t have the experience of playing in the longest format. It will be interesting to see how the Indian batsmen deal with his variations.

Rashid Khan:

Teenage sensation Rashid Khan is definitely the best T20I bowler in the world at the moment.

However, it remains to be seen whether he manages to replicate his heroics from the limited-overs format into the longest format.

Moreover, Rashid was the pick of the Afghanistan bowlers in the recently concluded T20I series against Afghanistan. He bagged eight wickets in the series to seal the series 3-0.

The 19-year-old Rashid has the ability to destroy any batting line-up on his day.

India would be pretty wary of Rashid, who has proved to be a world-class bowler. If he excels, Afghanistan has a chance of staging an unlikely upset.

However, with the pace, he bowls at it will be difficult for him to go on bowling for long hours. Rashid was quite brilliant in the IPL bagging 21 wickets for the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Mohammad Nabi:

All-rounder Mohammad Nabi has been around the Afghanistan circuit for a long time. He has seen the team grow in his presence.

The veteran cricketer will definitely look to come good in Afghanistan’s first-ever Test match. Nabi, an exciting all-rounder has been one of the most consistent performers for Afghanistan.

The former skipper led Afghanistan to several close victories. He has been a veteran in the circuit and has bailed them out of trouble.

Afghan team has been playing T20 cricket all across the globe. Nabi was part of the Sunrisers squad in the season eleven of IPL.

Nabi’s performance will be of serious importance if Afghanistan hopes of doing something special.