India Vs Afghanistan One-off Test Match, Bengaluru - Preview

Under the leadership of Virat Kohli’s deputy Ajinkya Rahane, India will lock horns with Afghanistan in the historic Test match at Bengaluru.

It will be a beginning of new era for the Afghanistan cricket, as they will play their maiden match in the red-ball format

India’s Test skipper will Kohli be absent for the iconic Test who is recovering from the neck injury. Consequently, the No.1 ranked Test team will not like to take the Afghan team lightly especially after their prolific form in the Twenty20 International.

However, the longest form is a different ball game altogether. Thus, Asghar Stanikzai-led team will have a different experience altogether after making their debut.

India:

There is no doubt India will enter the contest as favourites. However, they would not like to make the mistake of taking Afghanistan lightly. Nonetheless, hosts must not get carried away with the recent success.

Rahane will have his job cut out in the absence of star performer Kohli. However, Rahane has shown all the ingredients of a potential leader. He had done well when the series was on the line against Australia in Dharamshala.

The Indian team will have their middle order woes especially in the absence of their best batsman, Kohli.

Subsequently, the top and middle order will have to be cautious against Afghanistan spin battery; Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Mohammed Shami is ruled out as he failed to clear the Fitness Test. Delhi’s fast bowler Navdeep Saini is called as his replacement.

Afghanistan:

Afghanistan has come through the ranks to play their maiden Test match. The Afghan players will be excited to make their first appearance in the whites.

However, Stanikzai and Co. will have their work cut out against the best Test side in the world.

There would be huge expectations from the likes of Rashid and Mujeeb to deliver the goods.

However, both are still very young in their career and they must enjoy the opportunity to represent their country for the first time.

Afghanistan should not take extra pressure of their red-ball form debut.

Moreover, the young team must enjoy their maiden appearance to get the best out of themselves.

Pitch Report:

Bengaluru pitch is expected to assist the spinners as the match would go into the day three. Thus, the spin battery of both sides would be licking their fingers. Therefore, the team winning the toss would like to bat first.

Predicted Playing XI:

India: Murali Vijay, KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Karun Nair, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma.

Afghanistan: Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Javed Ahmadi, Asghar Stanikzai (c), Rahmat Shah, Mohammad Nabi, Nasir Jamal, Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sayed Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan.

Weather Forecast: 

Rain can play a killjoy in the maiden Test match of Afghanistan. Bengaluru weather is unpredictable and the rain gods can make their presence felt.

Interesting Stats:

Rahane has scored 2,883 runs in the Test form. Thus, the right-hander needs 117 more runs to complete 3,000 runs in the longest version of the game.

Murali Vijay amassed  3,802 runs under his belt. The stylish opener required 198 more to get to the landmark of 4,000 Test runs.

Speedster Umesh Yadav has scalped 99 wickets in the longest format of the game.

Thus, the Vidarbha fast bowler will need one more victim to complete his century of wickets for India.